Courtesy: Duke Athletics
DURHAM – Duke swimming and diving head coach Dan Colella announced the addition of Riley Boulden and Carlye Ellis to the staff as assistant coaches.
“We are very excited to have both Riley and Carlye joining our Duke coaching staff,” Colella said. “Both of them come from decorated undergraduate careers as Riley swam for the University of Alabama and Carlye for the University of Texas. I know that their experiences as student-athletes and their 20-plus years of coaching experience will undoubtedly make a large impact on this team immediately and for years to come. Each of them have done great things and we are thrilled to add them to our DSDT family.”
Boulden brings over 11 years of coaching experience to Durham. Prior to joining the Blue Devils, he spent the 2020-21 season as a volunteer assistant coach with NC State’s program. In his lone season with the Wolfpack, Boulden helped mentor an NC State team that secured a program best second-place finish at the 2021 Women’s NCAA Championships and a top-10 finish on the men’s side. In addition, the Wolfpack men and women both placed second at the 2021 ACC Championships during his time in Raleigh.
Before joining the NC State staff, Boulden served a three-year stint as an assistant coach at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) from 2017-2020. During his tenure with the Owls, he helped the men’s squad achieve a runner-up finish at the 2019 Conference USA Championship and aided the women’s squad in increasing its placing at the league meet from sixth to third. Boulden also played an integral role in leading FAU’s recruiting efforts and overseeing the sprint group.
Prior to joining the Owls, Boulden spent three years (2014-17) as an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s programs at Army West Point, where he helped both teams earn second-place finishes at the Patriot League Championships. He played a role in coaching multiple individual conference title winners, while also training athletes at US Nationals, World Trials and the 2016 Olympic Trials.
Boulden started his collegiate coaching career at DePauw University, where he served as the assistant men’s swimming coach and the associate aquatics director. From 2012-14,Boulden helped orchestrate two top-three conference finishes and two top-15 finishes at the Division III NCAA Championships. He also mentored 18 athletes to All-America honors.
As a swimmer, Boulden was a two-time Indiana state champion before beginning his collegiate career at the University of Alabama. A member of the Crimson Tide’s squad from 2006-10,Boulden secured two top-20 finishes at World Trials, achieved two Olympic Trials cuts and set the program record in the 200 IM that remained unbeaten until 2017.
A native of Indianapolis, Boulden
Ellis is set to join the Duke staff after serving as an assistant coach at Ohio University for three seasons. During her time with the Bobcats, Ellis was the recruiting coordinator, power training coordinator, director of operations and team culture administrator.
Under Ellis’ leadership Ohio was strong in the pool, finishing in the top five at the Mid-American Conference Championships in 2019 and 2021. The fourth-place finish in 2021 was the highest finish by the Bobcats in the previous eight seasons. Ellis also helped the team to success in the classroom, mentoring 35 student-athletes to Academic All-MAC team honors.
From 2015-18 Ellis was on staff as an assistant coach with the Cornell women’s swimming and diving program. In just three seasons, Ellis helped Cornell swimmers rewrite the school’s record book by setting new school marks in more than 10 individual and three relay events.
Additionally, Cornell posted 70 times that rank among the top-10 fastest swims along with three relay records. During her time in Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell was 6-1 in non-conference dual meets and placed seventh at the conference meet three times, which matched the program’s highest finish since 2010.
Prior to joining Cornell’s staff, Ellis spent two years as a graduate assistant swimming coach for both the men’s and women’s programs at Valparaiso (2013-15). While there, she assisted in all facets of the program, from scheduling and recruiting to practice planning and meet preparation. Ellis helped the teams break more than two dozen school records as well.
Just before joining the staff at Valparaiso, Ellis coached at Nitro Swimming in Austin, Texas (2011-13). At Nitro, she was an assistant coach for the national, sectional, and TAGS groups where she worked with nationally ranked swimmers who competed at the Olympic Trials, World Junior Championships and both the Senior and Junior National Championships.
Ellis had a successful collegiate career swimming for Texas from 2007-11. Ellis was part of the 200-yard medley relay team and 400-yard medley relay team that broke school records and won two Big 12 Conference Championships. Ellis finished her collegiate career as a four-time varsity letterwinner, two-time NCAA Division I All-American, and Big 12 champion.
Ellis graduated from Texas in 2011 with a degree in communications. She went on to earn her master’s in sport administration from Valparaiso in May 2015, and added a second master’s degree in communication studies from Ohio in April 2021.
Need to correct spelling in headline.