BREAKING: NC State Wolfpack Announces the Signing of a New Head Coach
Dave McKown of NC State has been appointed, according to NC State swimming coach Braden Holloway.
“With great enthusiasm, we welcome Coach Dave McKown to our swimming & diving team,” Holloway stated. “His wealth of knowledge and commitment to the game will definitely improve our programme. I have been following Dave’s career for a long time, and I have always been pleased with his performance history. With a stellar track record on platform, 1m, and 3m, we’re excited about the new heights our divers will reach under his capable direction.”
McKown joins NC State from UCONN, where he was the head coach of the women’s diving team. Under his direction, the team won three Big East Diving titles and finished first, second, and third at the 2023 Big East Championships. Over the course of two years, he produced six Zone A qualifiers and one 2024 finalist. In 2022–2023, he also doubled the diving points for the Huskies squad.
“I’m incredibly grateful and proud to be the newest addition to Wolfpack Swim and Dive,” McKown stated. “This programme is a high-intensity machine that consistently places its men’s and women’s teams in the top 10 in the NCAAs. I’ve always wanted to be a coach at such a high calibre. I’m eager to get going.”
McKown had a big influence at the University of Indianapolis as the head diving coach before coming to UCONN. Under his direction, the men’s 1-meter national championship was successfully swept, and he coached the first-ever national diving champion in school history.
During his time at Indianapolis, McKown produced 38 first-team All-Americans, nine All-America Honourable Mention winners, and 11 Division II All-Americans. Twelve GLVC Diver of the Year awards and 22 individual event conference winners have also been produced by McKown.
Coach McKown holds three GLVC conference records and trained divers to break every UIndy men’s and women’s diving record after coming to Indianapolis.
McKown was the chief satellite diving coach at Indiana International School of Diving from 2013 to 2022. Twelve junior national finalists and one junior national champion were created by him. He laid the groundwork for numerous future NCAA D-I, World Championship Trials, and Olympic trial qualifiers by coaching 17 J.O. Regional Gold medalists.
McKown received a psychology degree in 2010 from Miami University (Ohio), where he was a Division I diver. Over his diving and coaching career, McKown has won the Division II Men’s Coach of the Year in 2020–21 and 2021–22, the GLVC Paragon Award, and the Big East Women’s Diving Coach of the Year Award in 2023 and 2024.
