Lea Maurer Resigns as Stanford Women’s Head Coach

Stanford has lost their second head coach of the summer today, as women’s head coach Lea Maurer has resigned her position at the helm of her alma mater to “spend more time with her family”.

“There is not a day that goes by that my connection to Stanford does not have an impact on my life.  The Stanford community is a special place bound together by a group of people pursuing dreams in so many areas.  I will always be a part of that community and am honored to share the connection with the women I’ve brought in, my teammates when I swam here, my husband, Erik, who I met here and so many others that are a part of my Stanford family.” said Maurer of the decision.

Maurer’s husband Erik has been a volunteer assistant with the program since she took over the program 7 years ago; together they have led the Cardinal to 7-straight top-5 finishes at NCAA’s. Erik is a principal at a venture capital and private equity firm in the San Francisco area.

The Cardinal finished 4th at last year’s NCAA Championships, and were within 100 points of rivals Cal, who won the title.

The Stanford women didn’t have a great Olympic Trials meet, though they weren’t bad either. Their best shot at the Olympic Team was Elaine Breeden, who looked very good through two rounds of the 100 fly but couldn’t put things together in the final. They failed to put a swimmer on the Olympic Team for the first time since 1952.

Sources tell us that this was a total surprise to most around the program, this was a totally unexpected move headed into Olympic Trials, and that the athletes were only informed of the decision today.

This now leaves two major openings in the college scene, as Jim Richardson has still not been replaced at the University of Michigan.

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John Sampson
11 years ago

Any word on this coach yet???? Recruiting is going to be disastrous!

swimmer24
Reply to  Braden Keith
11 years ago

any news??????????????????

Nick
11 years ago

Bring in someone who can take the program to another level and care for the athletes.

In the Know
11 years ago

Possibly Bob Bowman could be the next….

Jcoach
Reply to  In the Know
11 years ago

I’ve heard that too, but whomever takes this job needs to start recruiting yesterday. I would think Bob is in line for a break.

WHOKNOWS
11 years ago

How about Whitney Hite???

Nick
11 years ago

How badly would this affect the recruiting (July 1 starting date) scene for Stanford without a head and assistant coaches now?

We are talking about landing Missy Franklin and other great recruits here. Stanford Athletics should do announce something soon.

duckduckgoose
Reply to  Nick
11 years ago

Most Stanford-athletes “self-select” (the academics are at least as much a draw as the athletics). Swimmers who are bright enough to be admitted to Stanford have already factored in the lack of improvement of recent high-profile recruits. Tim Murphy at Harvard does a phenomenal job with distance swimmers, but that’s not the only reason swimmers choose Harvard. Stanford needs to name the right coach (values education, has a proven track record, swimmers improve under their tutelage) within 6-8 weeks or it will be a problem for 2013 recruiting. If they name an acceptable coach within that time frame, 2013 recruiting will be fine. The lack of an Athletic Director now is the bigger problem than the openings in the swimming… Read more »

Tom
11 years ago

The idea of combined programs is very intriguing. That would definitely signify a “new era” in Stanford swimming. What are people’s thoughts on the pros and cons of combined programs?

joeb
Reply to  Tom
11 years ago

4 0f the top 5 men’s teams at ncaa’s this year were separate programs. considering there are not a lot of separate programs anymore, those stats speak for themselves…

swamcoach
11 years ago

There are many interesting and potential candidates for this job. I am sure that it was not always easy for Lea to balance a family and a “high pressure” job like Head Coach of a Stanford program. My question is why doesn’t Stanford take a “risk” and go with someone with experience but maybe not the name…bring back the past 2 assistants Shane Whildin and Chris Morgan, maybe they could bring back the glory–they know the school, they understand what is at stake.

Nick
11 years ago

It’s time for a new era of swimming at Stanford. I am looking forward to next year to see how the NEW Swim Coaches can take the talented teams (M&W) to the next level.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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