The Redding Swim Team, a USA Swimming club team located in Northern California, announced on Friday, May 30, that Matt Biondi—an 11-time Olympic medalist, International Swimming Hall of Fame inductee, and the first man to break 49 seconds in the men’s 100-meter long course freestyle—will be joining the team as its new Head Coach and General Manager.
“We are honored to welcome Coach Matt to our swim family,” said Jennifer Scarborough Haslerud, President of the Redding Swim Team Board, in the team’s official press release. “His experience, values, and vision are a perfect fit for our mission to cultivate both competitive excellence and character in our swimmers.”
In addition to leading the Redding Swim Team, which trains at Shasta College, Biondi will also serve as Head Swimming and Diving Coach at the college itself. He succeeds Mark Wagner in both roles, who retired after nearly 29 years of leadership with Redding and 17 years with Shasta.
Before stepping into these positions, Biondi held various coaching roles at the middle and high school levels in Hawaii and California, most recently serving as an assistant coach at Agoura High School.
Biondi, 59, is set to take the helm at Redding in June and will assume his role with Shasta College in early August.
“I’ve always believed that swimming can be a powerful tool for building confidence and community,” Biondi told Lassen News. “Joining the Redding Swim Team gives me the opportunity to continue that mission and help young people grow into their best selves—both in and out of the water.”
He added, “I’ve been fortunate to experience the highest levels of competition, but the most meaningful moments of my career have come from helping young people realize their potential. I look forward to building a program grounded in hard work, integrity, and joy in the water.”
Biondi, one of the most decorated swimmers in history, is a three-time Olympian, having represented the United States at the 1984, 1988, and 1992 Olympic Games. Over the course of his career, he won a total of 11 Olympic medals: eight gold, two silver, and one bronze.
His Olympic journey began in Los Angeles, where he won his first gold medal as a member of the 4×100 freestyle relay team.
At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Biondi earned seven medals: five gold, one silver in the 100 butterfly, and one bronze in the 200 freestyle. His gold medals in Seoul came in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 4×100 freestyle relay, 4×200 freestyle relay, and 4×100 medley relay.
Biondi competed in his third Olympic Games in Barcelona, where he added two more gold medals in the 4×100 freestyle relay and 4×100 medley relay, along with a silver medal in the 50 freestyle.
Beyond the Olympics, Biondi captured 24 U.S. national titles, 13 NCAA championships, and set 12 individual world records.
Biondi is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy of Industrialized Societies. In 2000, he completed a Master’s degree in Education at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
He has three children: Nate, who swam for the UC Berkeley men’s team from 2018 to 2021; Lucas, and Makena.
Would love to see a 30 for 30 style documentary, video or audio, on Biondi vs Jaeger that also included what it was like to swim professionally back then. There are a couple of generations that I feel like just can’t comprehend how good Biondi was, but also the struggle to live as a professional swimmer. People nowadays complain about when a dual meet isn’t streamed, or even an age group championship. I got to watch swimming on TV every four years. We don’t even have video of Phelps’s first world record in 2001 because the video feed was only in house. That is just how it was then and is so different now. We talked about Spitz and seven… Read more »
Dude
Late 1980s Biondi with a modern techsuit and a modern starting block could win trials in 2 days I bet
100 free ofc
He in Seoul form is an easy 46 candidate
That start, (lack of UW), and breakout alone cost him .7-.9s and he still swam 22.1
1988 Olympic Games – Swimming – Men’s 50 Meter Freestyle – Matt Biondi USA
Biondi was the best swimmer, but the races are 8 yards less swimming per 50 now. I’m guessing he would have figured out the under-water game, but you never know.
Absolute Legend.
Was it Matt that was treated terribly by USA swimming due to trying to earn a living or something? Can someone explain it to me?
Yes, Matt Biondi has voiced his concerns, in several interviews, about how he, and also Tom Jaeger, were treated when they tried to earn money from swimming. It wasn’t regarded as “honorable” to earn money from sports back then. At least one former high-ranking USA Swimming employee has expressed his regrets for the way they were treated.
I think a rivalry similar to Biondi/Jaeger is exactly what USA Swimming would need to draw more eyes to swimming.
Furthermore, he is very critical against Eddie Reese, who despite being the 1992 USA olympic head coach, wouldn’t allow Biondi to train with him because he wanted to be loyal to his Texas-sprinters.
Related to Mark?
No
I think Dale Rogers was the first non-Texas guy who got to train with Ed. Think he was working on his MBA at Texas and has ties to the program by marriage. Fairly certain it was Dale who said when he mentioned to one of the guys that he was going to practice that day, the reply was, “are you sure?”. This was in the 2000s. There was a period where Randy Reese had some different guys training at Texas in the mid 2000s, but Eddie didn’t have a bigger pro group until later years. I think once when he was the Olympic coach, maybe for 2008 or 2012, he felt obliged to let guys train there, but then cut… Read more »
“…I think once when he was the Olympic coach, maybe for 2008 or 2012, he felt obliged to let guys train there…”
He was the head men’s swim coach already at the 1992 Olympics. But at 2008/2012 he had maybe decided to proritize USA Swimming instead of Texas Longhorns. But hey, I’ve heard that coaching at Texas pays pretty well, whereas representing USA Swimming as a coach does not.
I know Ed’s resume. I’m also suggesting the sport has changed over time. In the 80s and 90s, it was a valid opinion to want to train your athletes and not take on training others who were competing against your athletes for spots on the Olympic team. Ed didn’t owe Biondi that.
The idea that you could question or criticize Ed’s commitment to USA Swimming over the years is just offensive. It suggests someone who doesn’t know him or the time and effort he’s given the organization over decades in the sport.
The point is not what Eddie Reese owed Biondi, but rather what the appointed US olympic head coach owes USA Swimming. Eddie Reese knew Biondi was struggling to find a suitable training environment and that he was no average-Joe swimmer. Biondi’s best times time were good enough to win 3 individual golds at the 1992 olympics, instead 2 of those golds went to Russia (or whatever it was called at the time).
Congrats Matt. It was great seeing you in Fed Way in March.
I have been swimming on the same Masters team with Matt for the last four years. He is the nicest guy, and often offers tips/pointers to his fellow swimmers. The swimmers at Redding/Shasta College are lucky to have him as a coach.
Hope he’s ready for Redding. That’s a very different part of California.
Spoken like a true native of the valley!
Ready for those summer river days! Luckily the river is right by the pool there.
Well, one at least. Not the college pool.
So glad to hear Biondi is going to coach again. Remember him from Olympics!! Loved watching him swim!