Wisconsin Adds Ted Patton to Coaching Staff; Will Retain Associate Kristy King

Correction: While a report from the Wisconsin State Journal said that Kristy King was being retained on the new staff, King has clarified that she was only sticking around for a month to help with the transition.

The University of Wisconsin has continued its staff rebuild with the hiring of Ted Patton as an assistant coach to join the staff of new head coach Jack Brown.

Ted Patton – A New Face

Patton comes to the program from Indiana University, where he spent the last 2 seasons as a volunteer assistant coach. During his time there, the men’s team finished 3rd at the 2025 NCAA Championships and 4th at the 2024 NCAA Championships, while winning Big Ten titles both seasons. The women finished 4th in 2025 and 7th in 2024.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ted Patton to Wisconsin,” Brown said of the new hire. “Ted brings a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of what it takes to build and sustain elite team culture. During his time at Indiana, he had a tremendous impact not just on performance, but on people—his ability to build meaningful relationships with athletes while challenging them to reach their full potential is second to none. His insight, steadiness, and competitive drive are going to be a huge asset to our program.”

This is Patton’s first full-time collegiate coaching gig, though he has a diverse set of experiences. Prior to Indiana, he spent 12 seasons (2011-2023) as the head swim coach at the North Shore Swim Club connected to the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he was also the aquatics manager for three-and-a-half years and a lecturer for almost eight years in a motor learning and development course. During his time there, he was named the head coach of the Minnesota Swimming Zones Team in the 2013-2014 season.

From 1999 until 2001, he was the head coach of the Paralympic Resident Swim Team at the USOPC (then USOC) Training Center in Colorado Springs, working with elite Paralympic athletes.

In between those roles, he built a successful career outside of the sport. From 1991 until 2002, he was an admissions director, course director, and lead instructor for Voyageur Outward Bound School, which offers personal growth opportunities through outdoors education programs.

He also spent 8 years from 2002 through 2010 as a Senior Sales Representative for Takeda Pharmaceuticals, a large pharmaceutical company that does roughly $30 billion in annual revenue. He was among the top ten percent in Regional Sales.

While Patton is not a household name in the swimming community, his unique background relative to most swim coaches could be an asset to the program.

The school has also hired Olympic silver medalist Andrew Capobianco as its new diving coach and former SIU assistant Johno Fergusson as part of its new staff.