After one season as an assistant coach at her alma mater Stanford University, Kim Williams is joining the USA Swimming National Team as a Senior Manager & Coach. The move, announced on USA Swimming’s Instagram account on Tuesday, keeps her working with Greg Meehan, who the organization recently appointed its National Team Director after 13 years at the helm of Stanford women’s swimming and diving.
“Having known Kim for the last ten years, it’s easy to see she is a rising star in the coaching profession,” wrote Meehan in USA Swimming’s announcement. “Her creative intellect, ability to connect with people, and enthusiasm for USA Swimming make her the perfect person for this role. I’m looking forward to the energy and excitement Kim will bring to the National Team Division.”
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This is the third hire for the National Team that USA Swimming has made from the NCAA coaching ranks this spring, and fourth overall coach hired. After hiring Meehan, the organization brought Wisconsin head coach Yuri Suguiyama on board as National Team Senior Director and Coach. It also hired long-time Fort Collins Area Swim Team assistant coach Mike Novell on as a senior advisor within its team services department. While Williams does not have the same years of experience the other three hires this sprint bring, she has worked with Olympians and high-caliber college athletes during her time as an assistant coach at Stanford and Cal.
Her hire maintains USA Swimming’s trend of redirecting the National Team staff from administrators towards a coaching-focused mentality. Meehan’s words on Williams highlight the importance of connection in this National Team role as USA Swimming unifies its direction leading into a selection meet for its next two major international championships (2025 World Championships and 2026 Pan Pacific Championships) and the home Olympic Games on the horizon in 2028.
Notably, Meehan, Suguiyama, and Williams have all served as an assistant coach for Cal at some point in their careers. Obviously, Williams was on staff most recently, she spent the 2023-24 season on deck with the Golden Bears, helping the women to a sixth Pac-12 title. Before working in Berkeley, she got her NCAA coaching career started as a volunteer assistant coach at Northwestern, working with current Stanford associate head coach Katie Robinson.
Williams won three consecutive NCAA and Pac-12 titles as a swimmer at Stanford and served as team captain her senior year. She was a member of two NCAA title-winning 400 medley relay teams and one 200 medley relay.
While Williams move out of the NCAA does not spin the league’s coaching carousel the way a head coach vacancy would, it does give Stanford a lot of work to do this offseason. Now, the team needs to fill two coaching vacancies, including its head coach. Williams’ departure means the only coaches currently on staff for the Cardinal women are associate head coach Robinson and head diving coach Patrick Jeffrey.
What this has me wondering is are they going back to having a resident team? Who are they going to coach on a regular basis? Are they going to do more training camps? Honestly asking. I feel like they switched to the national team director model because the national team coach wasn’t doing a lot of actual coaching. I get that Greg needs a staff, and I could be totally wrong, but this seems to indicate a more active role for the national team coach than we’ve seen in a while.
And this isn’t a complaint or an argument one way or the other. I’m honestly just asking.
Came here to ask the same thing. They had great results at Stanford last year so it seems like they’re capable, but who will they actually coach regularly?
Sometimes post grad athletes go to OTC and their coach at home (college) can’t go up there! It happens more than you think. During conference or NCAA’s etc
Is Greg just hiring is buddies or trying to actually find high end people? Yuri is fine i guess but there have to be better candidates than this?
It will sure be fun when the new CEO comes in and cleans house and we start this process all over again.
1) When has Greg not worked with high end people?
2) Who were you expecting him to hire as his staff, DeSorbo, Hehm, and Nesty? Maybe Aitken, Plumb, or Davis?
I think he knows what he’s doing, and if the CEO does do that then they should be fired as well
Out of pure curiosity, does anyone know what a role like this pays?
Better than Stanford and a cheaper place to live.
Best guess is somewhere in the 65-80k range, this role has traditionally been filled by someone younger who does a great job with logistics
time to fly in rick bishop with haste!
Is Stanford in deep trouble? Losing two of your three coaches is huge, especially for a program coming off the incredible year they had. Y’all can hate but Greg is one of the greats and Kim did well also. I’m also curious to see how this impacts the team, would anyone transfer out? I doubt it but they team ain’t looking too hot. They gotta get a coach hired
If Kim is leaving (her own alma mater), almost makes you think that maybe Katie Robinson isn’t getting the job??
Correct.
Isn’t getting it, or doesn’t want it? Honestly it’s not that important of a distinction, I’m just curious
I feel like if they were giving her the job, it would already be done. That being said, it seems like every time we reach these conclusions in a comment, the opposite happens the next day.
Greg Meehan is so great that Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel, Regan Smith, Claire Curzan, Taylor Ruck abandoned the Stanford University women’s swimming program.
The female contingent of USA Swimming dominated the 2024 Short Course World Championships (like never before), yet not one female swimmer from Stanford University was on the roster.
Let’s see how the Stanford University women’s swimming program performs at the 2025 USA Swimming National Championships (LCM) before making any definitive declarations.
Meehan is so great he recruited all of them and more, and led them to success in college and internationally. Just because they left doesn’t mean they weren’t successful under him
Heaven forbid grown adults want a change from their college set-up….
Oh, shove it. Greg Meehan embarrassed you this year, face the facts. Do you have this manifesto saved in your google docs so you can cut and paste it verbatim 39 times a year?
you are underestimating how expensive it is to live in NoCal housing and taxes insane.. so for a pro almost a non-starter… even if one can afford it why burn the money?