The University of Kentucky has added two more coaches to its swimming & diving coaching staff, both from the breakup of the University of Wisconsin staff.
Caul Bedran will join the team as associate coach and Matt Martinez will become the team’s recruiting coordinator. They will join Karissa Kruszewski, who was also announced as a new associate coach last week.
Martinez had been with the Badgers since 2022 as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, where one of his primary tasks was to help build the culture of the men’s team. He coached primarily mid-distance and breaststrokers at Wisconsin.
Bedran, meanwhile, joined the Badgers in 2023 as an assistant coach, and he worked primarily with the sprint group.
Both helped lead their men’s team to finish 22nd at the 2025 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving National Championship and the women’s team to end up 12th at the 2025 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving National Championship. This was the women’s best program finish since 2011, also achieving four All-Americans on the year.
This means their stroke groups were also responsible for the Wisconsin men’s duet of Big Ten Championships in 2024: Taiko Torepe-Ormsby in the 50 free and Yigit Aslan in the 500 free.
Before Wisconsin
Courtesy: Kentucky Athletics
Before Wisconsin, Bedran served as an assistant coach for the University of Michigan (2018-2023) for two years after being promoted from volunteer status. During this time, the Wolverines women’s team finished top 10 twice at the NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship and the men’s team won two Big Ten Championships.
Throughout his 15-year coaching career, Bedran also has experience coaching for team Brazil at the World University Games, Bowling Green State University as an assistant, Olivet College as head coach and director, and as a graduate assistant coach at Wayne State University, where he received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees.
“He has experience developing sprinters at the NCAA and international level, and I can’t wait to see our student-athletes partner with him,” Lundgaard said. “Even more than the x’s and o’s, I am excited about adding another coach to the staff that values the individual and has the interpersonal skillset to facilitate breakthroughs in our student-athletes, both in and out of the pool. We welcome Cauli, his wife Lauren, and their three children: Mila, Cohen, and Lenna.”
“I’d like to thank Bret, the administration, and the rest of the staff for this opportunity. My family and I are excited to join the Big Blue Nation,” Bedran said. “For the past 15 years, I’ve been blessed to make a positive impact on student athlete’s lives and help them swim fast. I’m looking forward to doing it in Lexington. We are looking forward to putting rings on fingers and diplomas in hands! Go Cats!”
Martinez also brings additional experience in his role as a volunteer assistant coach for the 2022 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving National Championship program, the Cal Berkley Golden Bears. During this time, he directly reported to Dave Durden, head coach and 2021 USA Olympic Team head coach.
Martinez also has had brief stints working for the Warringah Aquatic Swim Club in Australia, assisting the Olympic and senior level athletes, and at Binghamton University as well.
“Matt has a valuable background contributing to teams that have experienced the pinnacle of NCAA and Olympic excellence, and I have no doubt that he will be impactful in UK’s climb to those standards,” Lundgaard said. “We welcome Matt and Sara to BBN and can’t wait to get to work!”
“I’m incredibly honored to join the University of Kentucky Swim & Dive Program and excited to work alongside Coach Bret Lundgaard and the outstanding staff here.” Martinez said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such a respected program and help our student-athletes reach their full potential. I want to sincerely thank everyone at the University of Wisconsin – especially Yuri, Kristy, Jennah, Cauli, and Yahya. My family is looking forward to this next chapter in Lexington and the challenges and growth it will bring. Go Cats!!”
Kentucky’s Latest Staff
Last season, Kentucky operated with three assistant swim coaches and a director of operations. Prior to the addition of Bedran and Martinez, the staff listed four assistant coaches and a director of operations: Caitlin Hamilton, Jordan Lieberman, Ivan Sanchez, and Karissa Kruszewski.
The additions of Martinez and Bedran, along with head coach Bret Lungaard and head diving coach Ted Hautau brings the program to the maximum 8 allowed assistant coaches, plus a director of operations, after operating with a smaller staff last season.
What happened to Colin Faris?
Interesting.. Matt Martinez listed as “recruiting coordinator” and not “instagram hype coordinator”…
#DudesTime
Couple big dogs in the house!!!
wonder how the Wisconsin team feels about all of this turnover…
I mean when you hire a new head coach, they almost always do a full staff rebuild. Outside of the diving coach it’s rare for an assistant to be retained.
Unless you pull the “if you keep me, your top athlete stays” card
Yeah I guess, but even in those cases, we still rarely see it, so that must not work that often. Not many coaches at that level sit around and wait for that to happen, they jump on the next best available opportunity.
I’ve heard that Matt and Cauli made their decision prior to Wisconsin hiring a new head coach
“Made their decision” is kind of an interesting way to frame it. I guess if you look at it like “you can’t fire me I quit,” but those guys are both really smart guys who understand the way the world works. It’s not news to them that new head coaches generally don’t retain the prior staff. It’s not like they had the choice to wait around and decide if they wanted to stay…the smart move for a coach in that situation is to go out in the world and find a job rather than wait around for the 1 in 50 scenario where an assistant is retained.
It’s not a treatise on Matt and Cauli or Wisconsin…it’s just how the… Read more »
As soon as the head coach leaves it’s in every assistants best interest to start looking because there’s a good chance you won’t be retained. In this case considering the timing, they may have had a contingency plan in place depending on who was hired and what they wanted. They were probably open to staying, but either didn’t like the hire, or were told they weren’t being retained.
I know 6/8 coaches (well or really well). Very good staff at UK. The athletes at UK will love working with these coaches.
So did somebody (or multiple somebodies) from UK leave to account for the 3 new members of staff that they just added?
they did not have full staff last season, check the last paragraph of the article
What happened to The Spider?
That’s a staff with some firepower – wow! Terrific additions for Kentucky!! Awesome to see the athletic department supporting this program after the past debacle. Good energy, coaches and people on this staff – kudos UK!!!