California associate head coach David Marsh told SwimSwam Saturday that the 2025-26 season would be his last official season with the team after three and a half seasons. Marsh arrived in Berkeley in February of 2022.
“Our life’s kind of back east a little more,” Marsh said. “We feel like that’s sort of where the hub is.”
Marsh, who lives in North Carolina, said he initially intended to have just a three-month stint with the men’s team when then-assistant Chase Krietler went on paternity leave. However, once former Cal women’s team head coach Teri McKeever was placed on administrative leave (and later fired) in May 2022, Marsh took on a larger role with the women’s program and stayed with the team.
In turn, Marsh says he’ll continue to play the role of “consultant, mentor, teacher,” and that his “perfect world” would be consulting two countries, colleges and clubs. He will continue to serve his role as co-owned of Coronado Swim Team in San Diego, and serve as a mentor and consultant who is occasionally on deck for Team Elite Aquatics — which he previously was the director of.
“I love helping young people get faster, but I really enjoy it in a systemic way. I love mentoring coaches. I like looking at systems and evaluating systems and looking at what we can do better,” Marsh said. “I think about swimming every day and almost all day. I enjoy creative thoughts and challenges in raising standards and that’s what I’ve done with clubs and colleges ever since my coaching career started.”
Marsh says he has “no real intention of retiring,” but will put more focus on spending time with his wife, Kristin, and his family. Marsh noted that he and his wife will be coaching a clinic in China soon.
Additionally, Marsh said he would continue to support Cal, but he also wanted to “bring [his] energy back to War Eagle nation” to help out Auburn head coach Ryan Wochomurka and the War Eagle alumni base. Marsh was Auburn’s men’s and women’s head coach from 1990 to 2007, where he won a combined 12 NCAA team titles. Auburn is also where he spent his NCAA career.
At Cal, Marsh was on staff for the men’s team’s 2022 and 2023 NCAA titles, while also helping the women’s team finish fourth at 2026 NCAAs — their highest placement since 2021. He said that the women’s finish, as well as the return of Ryan Murphy from hiatus, helped elevate the culture of the team recently.
Marsh was also the head coach of the U.S. Women’s Team at the 2016 Olympic Games. In 2021, he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Inappropriate comments from some folks who, I would guess, do not know Coach Marsh. He coached my son. Marsh is admirable and cares deeply about his swimmers. I was happy that, while my son was away, he not only had a great coach helping him along but also someone who helped my son become a better person.
Ryan Murphy is back?!?!
Wow, some sad comments made. Let’s actually evaluate David’s history, the swimmers under him, and the teams he was involved with. How did his swimmers and teams do? Successful or not? What are many doing now. So here a brief recap as memory serves. First, David won 12 NCAA Championships across both mens (7) and women’s (5) teams while Head Coach at Auburn. A review of the swimmers in those years will find a vast majority of those swimmers improved year after year, and most importantly- David would seemingly almost always bring out their best performances when it counted the most- at NCAA championships, Olympic Trials and the Olympics.. Beyond his outstanding success at Auburn, If you take a look… Read more »
While the list of accolades provided is true, this post feels like it is either from one of his swimmers, or someone who has never met him.
Dave Marsh’s legacy will be remembered as a disastrous exit at San Diego State or wherever he lost his mind over not having enough control. Then he reunites with Druden rides on the coat tail for two championships and jumps ship right as the team hits a major down swing.
It appears as though he is an egotistical swim coach with a temper. And runs away when things don’t go his way.
Bowman and Nesty laid out an unforgettable beat down on. You should of saw it coming and left years ago.
I don’t know where it came from and your attitude about Marsh, Ellie, but you appear to be a remarkably bitter person. “Lost his mind…”, accuse him of riding coat tails to two championships (after he had won 12 as a head coach) and “jump ship right as the team hits a major down swing?
In reality Cal lost one of the most impactful classes in the history of NCAA swimming and was basically starting 2026 from relative scratch, yet managed 231 points (7th) and will be substantially better next year. The women were 4th with 303 points; in 2025 the women were 8th with 202.5 pts. Marsh is hardly leaving Cal in a death spiral.
H. Kos was… Read more »
The time has come for Wyatt to make a return. Long horn turn bear.
@Braden Keith, I don’t know if you remember it, but during last year’s Chinese National Games, I made you aware in one of the articles about David Marsh after I spotted him on the livestream sitting in the coaching area.
Did you hear back from him at the time about his role at the competition and what he was doing in China ?
A move that everyone could have seen coming a mile away. Marsh selling what’s left of his soul for the Chinese.
Hmmm. I did pursue it, I don’t remember what the conclusion was. I’ll look back through old texts and see if I can figure it out.
He’s a cheater.
Plumb -> Cal
that would be a paycut
As soon as his gravy train has some turbulence he is out the door. Has happened everywhere he has gone.