By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
The next piece of the puzzle for the restructured Pitt swimming and diving program has been put in place.
Newly minted Director of Swimming and Diving Katie Kasprzak announced Ian Walsh as the program’s new head swimming coach on Monday, joining the Panthers after a long run leading the Marshall swim and dive team.
Walsh’s hiring comes less than three weeks after Kasprzak was named Pitt’s new Director of Swimming & Diving, taking over the “direction, culture and success” of the program following the resignation of head coach Chase Kreitler in April.
Kreitler resigned after Pitt Athletics informed him that “the department intends to move in a different strategic direction after the 2026–2027 season,” and despite being offered to coach one more year, he felt it was in his best interest to move on.
Kasprzak previously served as the team’s diving coach, but in her new role as Director of the program, her first order of business was to hire a new swimming coach and a new diving coach, and now one of those boxes has been ticked.
Walsh joins the Panthers after spending eight years leading the Marshall University swim & dive team.
“After carefully evaluating what our program, current student-athletes and future recruits need, it became clear that Ian is exactly the right person for this role,” Kasprzak said. “As a sitting head coach, he brings a wealth of experience from leading programs in the American Conference to coaching at a Power 4 institution that finished second at the NCAA Championships.
“His track record includes coaching NCAA champions and athletes at every level of the sport, from club swimmers to the U.S. National Team. What stood out most throughout this process was not only his success in the pool, but his commitment to culture, leadership and accountability. Ian believes in developing great people first, and together we will create an environment where athletes are challenged, supported and held to the highest standards as both competitors and individuals.
“What he accomplished at Marshall speaks for itself, but the grace, professionalism and integrity he demonstrated through adversity were equally impressive. Ian knows how to make athletes faster because he has done it at the highest levels of our sport. More importantly, he knows how to lead with character, purpose and integrity. We could not be more excited to welcome Ian, Sarah and their family to the Pitt family.”
During his eight-year tenure at Marshall, Walsh’s teams combined to break 21 school records and 17 swimmers were crowned individual conference champions. His squads also thrived in the classroom, as the program earned CSCAA Scholar All-American status every semester since his arrival in 2018, including a 3.78 team GPA in fall 2025 that ranked seventh among all Division I swimming and diving programs nationally.
Walsh guided the Thundering Herd through three conference transitions, beginning in the Missouri Valley Conference before moving to the Sun Belt Conference and then this past season, in the American Conference.
“I would like to thank Director of Swimming & Diving Katie Kasprzak, Associate AD Blaire Ford and Athletic Director Allen Greene for their guidance through this process,” Walsh said. “From the first conversation, it was clear they wanted to create the best model to support high performance for their student-athletes, and the shared vision of this new structure will foster an environment where they can be their best in the pool, the classroom and within the Pittsburgh community.
“The University of Pittsburgh is an institution where you can balance elite academics and elite athletics. It is something the student-athletes here desire, and the program has shown it can be done through its rise in the ACC and NCAA ranks. I look forward to building upon the championship legacy of Pitt Swimming and Diving while recruiting men and women who want to be part of a championship culture here in Pittsburgh. Hail to Pitt.”
Among the swimmers who have performed well under Walsh in recent years, Lauren McNamara became Marshall’s first American conference champion in the women’s 200 fly last season, while in 2025, Kseniia Luniushina earned Sun Belt Swimmer of the Meet honors while setting conference, meet and school records in the women’s 100 backstroke.
“What an honor and privilege it has been to lead this program and be part of this amazing community,” Walsh said in a Marshall release published Monday announcing his resignation. “Our family has created so many wonderful memories we will carry for the rest of our lives. I am grateful for Marshall’s administration taking the chance on a young assistant coach nine years ago. What a journey it has been! I have appreciated all the support from the Marshall leadership over the years.”
Marshall Director of Athletics Gerald Harrison said a national search will begin immediately to find Walsh’s replacement.
Prior to Marshall, Walsh spent one season on staff as an assistant at the University of Buffalo, during which the program recorded its highest-ever finish at the Mid-American Conference Championships and produced two conference titles while the swim and dive squad led the athletic department in team GPA in both semesters.
He also spent one season at Cal, where former head coach Kreitler was prior to joining Pitt, working as an assistant under women’s head coach Teri McKeever in 2016-17. The Golden Bears placed 2nd at the NCAA Championships that year and produced four individual and two relay national titles.
Walsh’s college coaching career began at Bloomsburg University (Division II) as a graduate assistant, and he followed up by spending one year as an assistant at Albright College (Division III), leading the men’s and women’s programs to the 2013 Middle Atlantic Conference titles.
Walsh’s hiring with the Panthers marks a return to Pittsburgh, having spent his collegiate athletic career at Duquesne University, where he set school records in the men’s 100 and 200 breaststroke and swam on two record-setting medley relay teams. He also won the Atlantic 10 title in the 100 breast in 2009.
Last season, Pitt placed 16th at the Women’s NCAA Championships, their highest finish ever, and the men placed 20th, their best showing since 1953. At the ACC Championships, the Panther women placed 6th and the men were 11th.
Since the conclusion of the 2025-26 campaign, Pitt has lost many of its top swimmers to transfers, including their only individual NCAA scorers who were scheduled to return next season, Julian Koch (Tennessee) and Sydney Gring (NC State).
“State-related” schools in Pennsylvania, including the University of Pittsburgh, are largely exempt from the state’s Right-to-Know Law, even though they receive public funding, meaning they do not have to disclose athletics coaching salaries like in most states.
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