The University of Kentucky has parted ways with two members of its swimming & diving coaching staff in the immediate aftermath of the SEC Championships.
Karissa Kruszewski and Matt Martinez, who were both in their first season with the Wildcats, have both been let go, SwimSwam has confirmed. A source close to the team said both left to pursue other opportunities.
“I appreciate Karissa and Matt’s efforts and wish them well,” Kentucky head coach Bret Lundgaard said in a statement. “We’re excited about the future of Kentucky Swimming and Diving and remain focused on building our program as we bring our vision to life.”
Kruszewski was hired as an associate coach of the men’s and women’s teams on May 19, coming over from UCLA, where she served as an assistant coach of the women’s team beginning in 2019 before being promoted to associate head coach in the fall of 2022.
One week later, Martinez was hired as Kentucky’s new recruiting coordinator, while Cauli Bedran was also announced as a new associate coach. Both came over from Wisconsin, where Martinez had worked as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator since 2022.
The Kentucky women are coming off a 12th-place finish (out of 13 teams) at the SEC Championships, the lowest finish in program history. The Wildcats are only a few seasons removed from placing 3rd at SECs in 2023, which marked their fifth consecutive top-three finish dating back to 2019—that run included winning the conference title in 2021.
The men’s team placed 8th over the weekend, improving on their 9th-place finish in 2025 and their 10th-place showing in 2024. They had several strong performances in the pool, setting several program records—including in four of the five relays.
Senior Levi Sandidge led the team with 54 individual points, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the 1650 free, while junior teammate Carson Hick was 4th in that event. Freshman Lysander Osman was another standout, placing 6th in the 100 back (44.76) and smashing his own program record in the event leading off the 400 medley relay (44.56).
Although the timing of the moves may seem curious, with the NCAA Championships on the horizon next month, the source noted that it makes sense given that the majority of the team is on break post-SECs.
The Wildcats are in their third season under the tutelage of Lundgaard, who took over as head coach in July 2023 following the resignation of Lars Jorgensen.
With the two departures, the Kentucky staff now includes associate coaches Bedran and Jordan Lieberman, assistant coach Ivan Sanchez, diving coach Ted Hautau and Director of Operations Claire Kieffer-Wright alongside Lundgaard. Sanchez and Kieffer-Wright both joined the program in 2024, while Lieberman (2020) and Hautau (2008) are the only two staff members from the pre-Lundgaard era.
Well well, the Kentucky AD retired today. Insiders tell me it was a forced retirement. This is the guy that hired Bret…who has to be sweating now. IYKYK
Cayts
It will be interesting to see who he hires to replace them. I would imagine that coaches would be apprehensive to take the job after 5 coaches have left or been let go in just 3 seasons with Bret as head coach.
Sooo, Matt Martinez gets let go (after one season), but no comment because he’s a guy. Karissa gets the same outcome, but it must be because of gender. Got it.
This school seems to have a LOT of drama
Maybe the head coach really likes the interview process.
Seems like it
Well it IS Kentucky where the MEN are happy to move all the way up to 8th in the SEC and the WOMEN did not finish DFL beating one team.
You do realize that was improvement for the men? And this coach was left with a difficult situation. Oh and how kind of you to bad talk the women that worked their tails off all year! Do you think they were happy about it? And they had some insane injuries, surgeries and illnesses that not only kept out scorers and relay components but also hurt training leading up to the SEC Champs.
Sounds like someone who’s on the UK women’s team
wait, did they get let go or going to another opportunity? v weird first couple sentences
They were let go. There’s always lots of public hand wringing in these situations about “you can’t fire me I quit” “You can’t quit I fired you” so that’s why you get different perspectives from different sides.
The less employers say in these situations, the better.
At best, you are admitting to having to fire an assistant that you hired, which is never a great look. At worst, you’re not being 100% honest about their reason for leaving, and they sue you and the university for defamation.
Looks like Martinez removed all Kentucky content from his instagram too, or he just never posted, which seems unlikely seeing how much he did with Wisconsin. There’s gotta be more to the story. MM is an awesome dude
What high level program did MM swim for again?