Craig Mallery Named University of Jamestown Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Courtesy: Jamestown Athletics

The University of Jamestown has announced Craig Mallery as its new women’s swimming and diving head coach.

Mallery was the head coach at Seattle University for 14 seasons, starting the program from scratch at the NAIA level and helping oversee its progress to the NCAA Division I level.

“I am honored and motivated to join the outstanding academic, athletic and greater communities at the University of Jamestown,” said Mallery. “This exceptional leadership opportunity to further the women’s swimming program towards excellence combines the best of academics, athletics and spiritual growth while promoting the balanced, holistic health of outstanding student athletes.

“While a relatively young program, the enriching environment at the University of Jamestown will support dynamic growth for the program.”

As an NAIA program under Mallery, the Seattle University men placed in the top seven during all five of his seasons at the helm, including four straight top-three finishes. His women’s teams finished in the top seven for four consecutive years with three straight top-three finishes.

“Craig will be a great addition to the Jimmie coaching staff,” said University of Jamestown head women’s soccer coach Nick Becker, who helped lead the search committee. “Craig brings a wealth of experience from not only athlete development, but also a great background in the student-athlete experience. Craig’s leadership and knowledge will help continue to grow our swim program into a top- level program.”

In his first season with the program, Mallery guided the men’s team to a seventh-place finish at the 1998 NAIA Championships, then followed with a third-place men’s team finish in 1999, earning him national Coach of the Year honors.

In 2000, the women’s program joined the national spotlight as both teams placed third at the NAIA Championships and Mallery won his second national Coach of the Year honor, this time for his work with the women’s program. He followed that performance with an NAIA title for the men’s team in 2002 while the women were runners-up. The national title for the men was just the second in any sport at Seattle University.

After moving to the NCAA Division II level, Mallery continued to watch his team move up the standings. The team’s best finish came in 2004, as the women placed 13th, and the men placed 17th. Both the men’s and women’s teams turned in another pair of top 20 finishes in 2005 as the women finished 18^th and the men 19th. In 2006, the women finished in 15th place, while the men earned a 16th place finish.

The men’s swim team cracked the top ten in 2007 and 2008, finishing in ninth place at the 2007 Division II Championships and in eighth place during the 2008 national meet.

In 2010, Mallery was named the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Coach of the Year on both the men’s and women’s side, following the team’s best-ever finish at the conference championships. The 2009-10 season ended with 13 conference titles, a second-place finish for the men, and a third-place finish for the women.  Twenty-one new school records were set between the men’s and women’s programs.

After leaving the collegiate coaching ranks in 2012, Mallery has been coaching at the club level, including the Desert Piranhas in Palm Springs, Calif., University Place Aquatics in Tacoma, Wash., West Seattle YMCA in Seattle, Wash., and most recently, Taos Swim Club in Taos, N.M.

Mallery was a four-year letterwinner at Boston University, where he set school records in the 50 and 100 freestyle events. After graduating from Boston University in 1986, Mallery stayed on as an assistant coach for two seasons before making his way to Seattle University as the facilities and aquatics coordinator.  He received his master’s degree from Seattle University in 2004.