Alabama Crimson Tide Swimming and Diving

Alabama Crimson Tide swimming and diving teams, one for women and one for men, have produced lots of awards, titles, and championships since it’s start.

Bama Swimming and Diving teams have had fifty six Olympians, who have won six gold medals, nineteen individual National Collegiate Titles, one hundred and sixty six All-American members, 15 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year Honors, thirteen Southeastern Conference (SEC) Athlete of the Year Honors, and twenty-two National Top-10 Team finishes.

The teams’ past excellence continued last season, in 2007, when Vlad Polyakov won his 2nd NCAA title for the 200 breaststroke. It was the 5th year, out of six, that an Alabama Crimson Tide swimming and diving team member has taken home an NCAA title.

University of Alabama swimming and diving team members have long been recognized as being some of the finest swimmers and divers in the nation.

Gambril coached 5 US Olympic teams as well as taking the Alabama Crimson Tide swimming and diving team to a career mark with a season score of 270-49. Gambril was also a head coach of the 1984 Olympic squad.

When Gambril retired and handed the coaching position over to Jonty Skinner, who was Gambril’s first NCAA Champion, Skinner lead both the men and women’s team to the nation’s top 10. Skinner also earned his Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year award. That was Skinner’s first and last season as the Alabama swimming and diving team’s coach.

The Crimson Tide swimming and diving team has always been a point of pride for the University of Alabama with the men’s team starting in late 1959 under John Foster, and the women’s team in late 1974 with Gary Illman as the mentor.

The University of Alabama swimming and diving men’s team has a record of 350 dual meet wins and a pair of Southeastern Conference titles while the Tide swimming and diving women’s team have almost 200 dual meet wins.

The current Alabama coach is Eric McIquham, and has been for the last two seasons. Under McIquham’s coaching the Alabama Crimson Tide swimming and diving men’s team reached the top 15 national finish and the team reached in the top 25. In addition, for the fourth year in row they an NCAA Championship.

McIquham was a standout athlete, winning 15 NCAA Division II individual and relay titles while competing and attending Oakland University. He was a two-time NCAA D2 100 butterfly champion and also held the national record in that event. McIquham was also a graduate assistant coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide swimming and diving team in the early 1990s and then became a full-time assistant coach in 1994.

After two more seasons in that position McIquham left Alabama to coach at the University of Virginia. From there McIquham became the head coach at West Virginia and finally the head Alabama Tide swimming and diving coach

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