Missouri coach Greg Rhodenbaugh has had to overhaul his entire coaching staff this off-season; that included losing his top assistant Roric Fink to Texas.
By all accounts, those he’s brought in are great coaches, but the latest is by far the hugest name: American Olympic gold medalist Mark Gangloff.
Gangloff was a breaststroker on the prelims legs of the American 400 medley relays that took gold and broke World Records in both Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.
He also has three World Championship gold medals (2005, 2009, and 2011) with the medley relay, and a pair of lesser medals in the 50 breaststroke. The pinnacle of his career was perhaps in 2009, where he broke the American Record in the 100 breaststroke with a 59.01, though Eric Shanteau has since broken it.
Gangloff has been training at Auburn under Brett Hawke, and in that time he worked as a volunteer assistant with the program. He’s also one of the most prolific clinic-givers in the country, so coaching is certainly not new territory for him. After missing the Olympic Team this year, Gangloff wrapped up his career with a 59.76 at the Southeastern LSC Champs in mid July, better than he was at Trials (and a time which would’ve earned him a spot in London).
The move comes with near-perfect timing, as the Gangloffs are expecting their second child. Mark is married to former USA Diving National Champion Ashley Rubenstein, who is a Columbia native. Her family still resides in the town that is home to Missouri.
Gangloff will see many familiar faces in his new home, as the Missouri Tigers will begin competition in the SEC, the same conference that was home to his Auburn Tigers.
Too bad he missed his taper, but such a great news there will be another Gangloff baby! You lose some, you win some.
Mark will also bring a wealth of table tennis experience to this new program. Mark – one day you might be able to beat me.
In my experience, Mark Gangloff is a really cool, down to earth, hard working dude. I like this
Awesome!!!
Had Gangloff retired?