Courtesy: Nevada Athletics
RENO, Nev. – One of the top diving coaches in the United States, and the architect of one of the top diving programs in the West, Nevada Diving Head Coach Jian Li You announced her retirement Friday.
You, in her 29th season at Nevada in 2024-25, is currently preparing her divers for her final Mountain West Swimming and Diving Championships, set for Feb. 19-22 at the University of Houston.
“I love this University and Reno so much. I have been so lucky to coach here for almost 30 years and have so much support from my athletes, coaches, athletic directors, and the University. I am thankful to have had the trust and support to coach my team and help my divers win championships and reach their dreams. I am proud that we have built Nevada Diving into one of the best programs in the country, and look forward to it staying at the top.”
A former Chinese national champion diver and coach to numerous Olympians, You has established Nevada as one of the premier diving schools in the Western U.S. since her arrival in Reno. Among her achievements over her three decades at Nevada, You guided Sharae Zheng to 1-Meter and 3-Meter Springboard NCAA titles in 2016, and her Wolf Pack divers have captured 10 All-America honors, 33 individual conference event titles (six Big West, three WAC, 24 Mountain West), and 10 conference diver of the year awards (two WAC, eight Mountain West).
The 2016 campaign, highlighted by Zheng’s two NCAA titles and Nevada divers finishing first and second in all three diving events at that year’s Mountain West Championships, ended with You being named the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Diving Coach of the Year. Zheng, for her stellar campaign, was named the CSCAA’s Diver of the Year.
You, a six-time Chinese national champion, made the Chinese Olympic Team for the 1980 Moscow Games and was the world’s top-ranked diver on 1-meter before being unable to compete due to China’s being part of a 65-nation boycott. Her Olympic journey would take a new path, four decades later, as she became the first female Olympic diving coach for Team USA when she coached one of her Wolf Pack divers, Krysta Palmer, to the bronze medal on 3-meter at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Since moving to the United States in 1995 and taking the Nevada diving job in 1996, You has gone on to become one of the longest-tenured head coaches in Wolf Pack Athletics history. She has coached her divers to championships in three conferences—the Big West, the WAC, and the Mountain West—as well as numerous standout performances on the international stage.
Nevada has placed at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships 12 times, while You’s divers have contributed points on eight of those occasions (1998, 1999, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023).
“Jian Li You‘s impact on Nevada Athletics and the diving world has been monumental. Without a doubt, she is among the greatest coaches in Nevada Athletics history. The sheer amount of accolades her divers have earned—from Olympic medals to national championships to conference titles to All-America honors—in nearly 30 years at Nevada is a testament to her excellence, her love of the sport, and her dedication to this University,” said Nevada Athletics Director Stephanie Rempe. “What Jian Li has built here is unparalleled and Nevada Diving will long continue to be the standard not only in this department but nationwide at the Division I level. We will be forever grateful for Jian Li’s dedication to the University of Nevada and Nevada Athletics, and wish her well in her retirement.”
You has made Nevada Diving into a dynasty since joining the Mountain West in the 2012-13 season. Over 11 championship meets, Nevada divers have captured eight Mountain West Diver of the Year awards, won 24 individual event titles out of a possible 33, and earned 48 medals. Never was Nevada’s dominance in diving more on display at the Mountain West Championships than in 2016, when Wolf Pack divers scored an incredible 171 points in the three events as the Nevada edged Boise State by 13 points to win the program’s only Mountain West title.
Her contributions to the University and Athletics have also been recognized outside of the pool deck. In 2023, You was honored at the Nevada Women’s Fund’s “Salute to Women of Achievement” event, which publicly recognizes women who make a difference in the workplace, home and community.
“For the three decades Jian Li You has served as our Diving Head Coach, our program has rightly been known as one of the best in the country. Her athletes have won NCAA titles, earned an Olympic medal and received dozens of individual conference event titles and Diver of the Year awards. Her exceptional contributions have elevated our swimming and diving program in every way. On behalf of the entire University, I wish to thank Coach You for an unparalleled and historic coaching career,” said University of Nevada President Brian Sandoval.
You and her Nevada divers look ahead to one final championship run over the next two months, beginning with next week’s Mountain West meet in Houston. That will be followed by the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships March 10-12 in Federal Way, Wash., and the 2025 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships from March 19-22, also in Federal Way.
