The Ohio University’s women’s swimming & diving team is back on the market for a new head coach after the school declined to renew the contract for head coach Rachel Komisarz-Baugh. A spokesperson for the university confirmed the news to SwimSwam on Thursday. Komisarz-Baugh spent 4 seasons as the head coach at Ohio after 5 seasons as an assistant at Louisville.
During Komisarz-Baugh’s tenure, the team never finished higher than 5th at the Mid-American Conference Championships. That includes a 7th-place finish out of 8 teams last month at the 2018 edition of the meet.
Ohio’s MAC Conference Championship finishes, Komisarz-Baugh era:
- 2015 – 6th
- 2016 – 6th
- 2017 – 5th
- 2018 – 7th
Ohio, who has participated in ever MAC Championship since 1981 when the NCAA began sponsoring women’s athletics, won 7 consecutive conference titles from 1989 through 1995. That’s a MAC record. Their 11 overall titles ranks 2nd in conference history, behind only Miami. The Bobcats finished in the top 2 in the conference in the 3 seasons before Komisarz-Baugh’s arrival, including a title in 2011. The 6th-and-7th place finishes were the team’s lowest since the conference’s first sponsored championship in 1981 where the Bobcats were 6th out of 9 teams.
Ohio swimmers won 5 All-MAC First Team awards during Komisarz-Baugh’s tenure, including 3-straight honors for junior butterflier Corrin van Lanen
In her previous stop, at Louisville, Komisarz-Baugh was responsible for the coaching of Kelsi Worrell, a 2016 Olympian who currently holds the American Record in 5 different butterfly events. Komisarz-Baugh herself was a 2004 U.S. Olympian, winning gold in the 800 free relay and silver as part of the 400 medley relay.
The school declined to expand upon their decision.
Why would you fire a coach that was successful? What could possibly be the rationale? Perhaps the administration needs to look inward, and clean their closet and move forward into the 21st century.
Hello, this is Hannah, former team captain and lover of all bobcats past, present, and future. I wasn’t going to read anything because I didn’t want to be consumed in all of the negativity. Shame on anyone trying to bring more negativity to our team/family. We have been through an extraordinary amount of adversity in the past few years. I will not go into details because everyone that should know about our team dynamics already does. So, if you find yourself asking why…don’t worry about it. Also, for the people who think it’s appropriate to openly talk about our team on social media, it’s not. In fact, it’s very counter productive to the whole moving on process, so keep your… Read more »
Get Rid of AD. Who would get rid of the past coach at the onset of a season. Shame on him. Obviously he doesn’t care about the student athletes
No, the AD had the girls’ best interest in mind when he fired the previous head coach after the season had begun.
To be honest OUMOM, i think you are wrong. The AD left the entire team a month into the season without a head coach. The interim coach tried his best but was given ZERO support from the athletic department and specifically the AD. The AD wanted the program to go in another direction, and sadly it did the opposite. I really hope the team can recover and continue with OU traditions that we all know and love.
No, the AD had the girls’ best interest in mind when he fired the former head coach after the season had begun.
Do you really think someone could be fired after 19 years for no reason? This screams there was an obvious issue that needed to end immediately. People are desperately trying to put the blame on someone and are even wanting the previous coach that was fired to come back?? Y’all are trippin. Talk about taking a step backwards.
I agree with OUOBSERVER that I don’t know why DUNC is so invested in a program her daughter decided not to attend. I would like to clear up a lot misinformation DUNC has espoused. Frist, there were only 2 swimmers on the team that were not recruited by Rachel. This team had only 3 seniors left and one was a late recruit by Rachel. This is her team. Secondly, the points scored at MAC championships have fallen each year under Rachel (359 – 2015; 346.5 – 2016; 304 – 2017; 252 -2018). The earlier years would have been from “inherited” swimmers. Absolutely no way could 2 or 3 swimmers move them past Miami. Miami outscored OU by 263 points. Three… Read more »
Not vested in OU. Know very little other what I learned during the recruiting process. Have to accept BOBCATNATIONFAN’s depiction of the team make up. ….Climbing the ladder of success at a conference championship involves more than just new points acquired. You are also moving other teams down the ladder by taking points away from them. I don”t have a long standing association with OU. Mine starts in 2015. My kids swam for a prominent Ohio Club Team. Absolutely no one in the senior group would consider swimming for OU. No one really knew anything about Coach Rachel so it wasn’t her. It was just don’t swim for OU. Don’t know that was. My daughter caught some good natured grief… Read more »
Coach Komisarz-Baugh and her well sculpted biceps will land a better coaching job soon! Gold medalist. Never underestimate.
My daughter was recruited by Coach Rachel. I liked her. She was honest, direct and straight forward. She took over in a challenging environment. Release of a previous long time coach in what appeared to be an athlete influenced change. The University itself was undergoing a leadership change after a slow erosion of their public Ivy League status and other complaints about their campus culture. I’m not sure 4 years is enough under those circumstances. It really does matter how much the University has your back. If you inherit a bunch of attitudes can the coach clear them out or is the coach stuck with them until scholarships end. If the inherited culture is known in the club swimming world… Read more »
Everybody likes her during recruiting. She puts on a good act and you are dazzled by the medals. The last 2 years she barely had anybody she inherited. Ran them all off. Glad your daughter didn’t get sucked into the bait and switch. I realize that I have so many stories to tell but can’t because they are too specific and would reveal the identities of the swimmers involved. Wouldn’t do that to them. They’ve been through enough.
Actually didn’t know about the medals. She never mentioned them. We were more interested in educational success. She made it clear to us she was looking for tough kids. She laid out a pretty regemented scheme both academically and training wise. I don’t think she pulled any punches. Coach Rachel was in a tough environment to recruit tough kids.
If what she laid out made sense, then why isn’t the team improving & improving their record by even a slim margin. She just completed her 4th year so most of the team members are her swimmers, not ones she inherited. Attitude & culture should be modeled & developed by those in command reinforced by day to day action. Look at some of the other MAC teams…Buffalo, BG, Akron…teams who have been low in the MAC & are now more than successful under coaches who also walked into teams they inherited, but they seemed to establish a positive environment. Maybe an earlier comment was on the money…maybe OU was just not a good fit for either side. Time will tell…
Ok not sure how you missed the giant signed Olympic flag in her office or the signature line of all letters and emails that lists Olympic Gold and Silver medalist before OU head coach. She doesn’t have to mention it to put it out there. Oh and the academic part is lip service. Consistently violated practice time during exam week etc.
Never went into her office. Spoke to her in person or on the phone. Checked my saved emails. Didn’t have any from her.
Just to invalidate something you said about the Olympic Gold & Silver medal reference on emails. My daughter checked her numerous emails from the coach. No reference to the Olympics what so ever. Maybe the Coach deleted the references to my daughter only.
When you are a coach that takes over a team, you inherit the athletes that are currently on the team. Having an attitude of “those aren’t my athletes/recruits” is a bad attitude to have as a coach. It should never be used as an excuse by the coach or spectators. Good coaches can win no matter what.
Then why recruit? Have everyone walk on and make a winner from that. Oh, wait, that wouldn’t happen. Actually illustrates another reason to recruit outside the US. Coaches I talk to in multiple sports say foreign athletes are in general more focused, more self motivated, more mature and more success oriented. By definintion cultures take a while to acquire and a while to change, unless you are enabled to do something drastic.
I think it reflects reality. Athletes are released from commitments when “their” coach leaves for whatever the reason. That’s coaching transitions can ve so precarious. Most athletes don’t understand that the commitment is to the institution not the coach. The coach is just the implement for the commitment. Experienced coaches get better at recruiting after they make mistakes. You learn that going after the best swimmer is not always the best choice, but you have to get burned by a good swimmer with a bad attitude to realize that. Of course no parent would recognize that in their own child. Asked my daughter today what her biggest turn off was about OU. Was kind of surprised by the response. She… Read more »
Yes, that is an assumption..a big one!!
The point, albeit poorly made, is that one quality swimmer (not necessarily my daughter) could make a difference at conference. 2 or 3 could have moved the team past Miami. The issue really speaks to recruiting.
Not sure why your so invested in a program you decided against or why your impression based on one visit should hold much sway. I have personally spoken to most of the team and most of the parents. I also have compared notes with swimmers at other programs. They never have had to deal with what the OU girls have. As I mentioned before giving more examples of abuses would be to specific and reveal identities. And yes the team does well academically. With several members moving on to great grad programs. That’s a testament to the girls’ ability to overcome and the academic advising and support provided by the university
This comments section is very telling. Tons of obvious parents commenting here. Sounds like a toxic situation all around. Maybe Ohio swimmers and coach deserved each other
I’m not vested in the program at all. I decided against nothing. My daughter made roughly 15 official and unofficial college visits. She knew what she was looking for in a school, swim program/coach. I was a coach for 40 years at all levels. After all was said and done she signed with OU, but there was the underlying negativity from the swimmers. Don’t know who they were, but it makes no difference. In the end she got an unexpected opportunity to serve the country. An option she knew would be much more difficult than anything at OU. She chose the greater challenge. Things probably didn’t turn out the way Coach Rachel hoped, but in the long run she apparently… Read more »
“Hollie Bonewit (currently at Miami of Ohio). Experienced head coach. Track record of success. Female. OU alum. Checks all the boxes.” With one exception: she’s a woman and I’m unaware of what she’s won at Miami???
Maction, you have it right. Its a female thing. Women don’t like to be told what to do from woman. The administration never had her back. And the women athletes wanted her out from the beginning (most of them anyway). Hope she lands somewhere with support.
Do you have any proof to back up your statements. I think giving a D1 coach four years to prove herself is enough time to prove her worth. How do you know the administration didn’t give her more time because she is a woman. Let’s not make this into gender issue because it is not one.