Former Stanford Head Coach Lea Maurer Joins USC Staff as Associate Head Coach

Jeremy Kipp has added one more name to the newly-constructed swimming & diving coaching staff at USC, and it’s a big one in Pac-12 circles.

Lea Maurer has been named the program’s new associate head coach. Maurer, a 1992 Olympic gold and bronze medalist and 1998 World Champion, was the head coach of the women’s program at Stanford from 2005 through 2012. During her time there, she led the program to 7 consecutive top 5 finishes at the NCAA Championships and back-to-back Pac-10 titles in 2010 and 2011.

While she was the head coach at Stanford, the team’s highest NCAA Championship finish came in 2010, where she placed 2nd. In one of the closest NCAA Championship finishes ever, the Cardinal finished just 2.5 points behind the champion Florida Gators.

In total, her swimmers won 13 NCAA event titles, 37 conference event championships, and 163 All-America honors. The Stanford women were 66-5 in dual meets while Maurer was the head coach.

Among the individual talents she coached included Elaine Breeden and Julia Smit, who combined to win 3 relay medals at the 2008 Olympics, in addition to coaching names like American Record holder Tara Kirk.

Stanford finishes at the NCAA Championships under Lea Maurer‘s Tenure:

• 2006 – 5th place (209 points)
• 2007 – 4th place (333 points)
• 2008 – 3rd place (343 points)
• 2009 – 4th place (312.5 points)
• 2010 – 2nd place (279.5 points)
• 2011 – 4th place (272 points)
• 2012 – 4th place (318 points)

Maurer resigned from Stanford in 2012 to “spend more time with her family,” but she wasn’t away from the pool deck at the Avery Aquatic Center for long. Since 2013, she has served as a volunteer assistant with the men’s water polo team at Stanford. The Stanford men’s water polo team is the defending NCAA Champion.

Kipp has now announced 3 assistant coaches on his swimming staff at USC. That’s as many as the school carried under the prior staff led by Dave Salo, who resigned at the end of last season, though it’s one short of the NCAA maximum.

USC Announced Staff So Far:

• Jeremy Kipp – head coach (new hire)
• Lea Maurer – associate head coach (new hire)
• Meghan Hawthorne – assistant coach (came with Kipp from Northwestern, and prior to that Boise State)
• Chase Bloch – assistant coach (holdover from Dave Salo’s staff)

As an athlete, Maurer won an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Games as the leadoff leg of the American women’s 400 medley relay. She also took a bronze medal that year individually in the 100 back.

6 years later, at the 1998 World Championships, she won the 100 backstroke and added a 400 medley relay gold. Those world titles added to a silver in the 400 medley relay at the 1994 World Championships.

She started her college racing career at the University of Florida before transferring to Stanford. On “The Farm,” she was a member of the Stanford NCAA Championship teams in 1992, 1993, and 1994. As an individual, she was a 3-time NCAA Champion in the 100 back and 1-time NCAA Champion in the 200 back. She was a member of the USA Swimming National Team until 2000.

After retiring, she became an assistant coach at Northwestern (which was Kipp’s last stop as head coach before USC). From 1995 through 2005, she coached the boys’ and girls’ swim teams at Lake Forest High School. There, she led the girls’ team to State Championships in 2002 and 2003 and the boys’ team to a state title in 2003. Among the swimmers she coached there were eventual Olympic gold medalist Matt Grevers.

Maurer is married to Erik Maurer, who is also a former Stanford swimmer, and their son Luke is committed to begin his college career competing for the Cardinal this fall.

In February, the Trojan women finished in third place with 1,212 points, just 12.5 points behind Cal, the 2019 NCAA runner-ups, for the title. The USC men finished last at the 2020 Pac-12 Championships.