Gideon Louw Returning To Auburn On Gary Taylor’s New Staff

Former Auburn standout and South African Olympian Gideon Louw will be returning to his alma mater, leaving the University of Minnesota to join head coach Gary Taylor‘s new staff in Auburn.

Louw was part of the 2009 NCAA Championship team at Auburn, winning three relay titles. He also made a pair of South African Olympic teams, representing his country in 2008 and 2012, making individual semifinals both times and swimming in the 4×100 free relay final in 2012.

He’s been coaching at Minnesota for four seasons, helping coach the team’s combined-gender sprint group. He guided NCAA bronze medalist Bowen Beckerwho went 18.69 this past season as a junior. Previously, Louw had coached at Florida State for two seasons.

Louw will join the new-look Auburn staff after his college coach, Brett Hawkeresigned this offseason. The Tigers are now led by Gary Taylorthe former NC State assistant who is also a Minnesota swimming alumnus. Louw jumps from his associate head coaching position at Minnesota to join Taylor’s staff.

Taylor has already hired Duncan Sherrard away from UNC, where he was credited for working with the Tar Heels’ standout female sprinters. It’s not clear yet how Auburn will structure its training groups under the new staff, but Sherrard’s experience with Caroline Baldwin and Louw’s with Becker might suggest that each sprint-oriented coach will work with single-gender sprint groups.

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Brutus
6 years ago

Gideon is THE HEMAN!!!

Luke
Reply to  Brutus
6 years ago

Think he had enough of the weather up north 🙂

ANICETUS
6 years ago

EPIC HIRE! One of the BEST!

612
6 years ago

Congratulations Gideon!

FLCOACH
6 years ago

Great hire! Cue the trolls crying foul that he didn’t hire a token female.

Coach
Reply to  FLCOACH
6 years ago

I think he still has 1 spot to fill, right? I imagine it will be a female. Having a female on staff is a necessity on many different levels. A combined program that doesn’t have at least 1 woman on staff is at a disadvantage.

NM Coach
6 years ago

This is a GREAT pickup for Gary!!!!

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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