Aug. 12, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Penn State Director of Athletics Dave Joyner has announced the hiring of Tim Murphy as the head coach of the Nittany Lion men's and women's swimming and diving programs. Murphy, who comes to Penn State after spending the last 15 seasons as Harvard's men's head coach, is the seventh coach in men's history and the fifth coach for the women's program.
"Tim brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and success to Penn State and we are thrilled to have him join our team of outstanding coaches," Joyner commented. "Tim has coached a multitude of conference champions, All-Americans and Olympians and we expect that he will continue to have similar successes at Penn State. He is committed to his student-athletes having an outstanding experience both in the pool and in the classroom, attributes we take great pride in at Penn State."
"I would like to thank Director of Athletics Dave Joyner and Associate Athletics Director CharmelIe Green for giving me the honor to be the next head coach of men's and women's swimming & diving teams at Penn State University," Murphy said. "I am looking forward to challenging the outstanding men's and women's student-athletes to continue to build on the tradition of excellence and begin a new and exciting chapter in Penn State swimming & diving."
During his time with the Crimson, Murphy compiled a 122-11 dual meet record and captured six Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League titles. He posted seven undefeated dual meet seasons and brought three Top 20 recruiting classes to Cambridge, Mass. during his final three seasons. His 2012-13 recruits were ranked as the nation's No. 10 recruiting class by CollegeSwimming.com.
Murphy's swimmers own 13 Harvard school records, four of the five relays marks and own almost 80 percent of the Top 10 marks in Crimson history. He has seen seven of his student-athletes earn Academic All-Ivy League and his 2006 squad earned the College Swimming Coaches Association of American Academic Team Award.
Eighteen different student-athletes have earned All-America honors on 72 occasions, with 14 of those swimmers garnering first team All-American honors 44 times. Murphy watched as his contingent brought home 97 individual league championships and 31 relay titles, winning at least five individual or relay championships on 13 occasions. During his tenure, the Crimson won at least 10 individual/relay titles at six league championships.
He has seen 63 swimmers or divers earn first team All-Ivy League on 251 different occasions, along with numerous second team All-Ivy League picks. Alex Meyer finished 10th at the 2012 Olympic Games in the 10K Marathon event and is an Open Water World Champion in the 25K event.
Murphy was appointed as the head Olympic coach for the men's open water team at the 2012 Olympic Games and serves on the OIOC committee for USA Swimming. He has placed athletes on Olympic, World University, Pan-Pacific and Pan-American teams, including Meyer, who was named the 2011 Fran Crippen Memorial Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year by USA Swimming.
Murphy, who served as an assistant men's coach at the 2009 World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia, also worked as an assistant at the 2001 World University Games in Beijing and at the 1993 World Short Course Championships. He was also a member of the Open Water Staff at the 1998 World Championships in Australia.
Before his arrival at Harvard, Murphy spent 13 years as the head coach of the nationally renowned Wilton YMCA Wahoos in Wilton, Conn. He led the Wahoos to seven national championships and was named the YMCA National Coach of the Year in 1989. Murphy also garnered Connecticut Swimming Coaches Association Coach of the Year honors in 1988 and 1998.
Murphy graduated from West Chester (Pa.) University in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education from. He also earned his master's degree in physical education from West Chester in 1988. Murphy was inducted into the West Chester Hall of Fame in 2012.