July 10, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State swimming & diving head coach Tim Murphy announced the addition of Paulina Ziolek to the Nittany Lions' coaching staff Monday, as she will join the program as an assistant after most recently coaching at the University of Texas.
The native of Londonderry, New Hampshire, arrives in State College after simultaneously serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the Texas women's swimmers and an assistant coach with Texas Longhorn Aquatics for the past two seasons.
"I want to thank Coach Tim Murphy and the rest of the staff for the opportunity to join the Penn State team," said Ziolek. "I felt a sense of family from the moment I stepped onto campus and am excited to be a part of this community. Penn State has an accomplished history of top academics and athletics, and I'm grateful to work with this rising team."
At Texas, Ziolek primarily worked with the Longhorns' distance swimmers, highlighted by Joanna Evans, who represented The Bahamas at the 2016 Rio Olympics and was a semifinalist in the 400-meter freestyle before claiming five Big 12 titles and an All-America nod in the mile in 2017. The Longhorns won the Big 12 title and were top-15 finishers at the NCAA Championships in both seasons with Ziolek on staff, including a fifth-place finish at NCAAs this past season.
"We are extremely excited to welcome Paulina to the Penn State swimming & diving coaching staff and family," said Murphy. "Paulina's experience will add an exciting dimension to our program."
Also while in Austin, Ziolek coached Elite Age Group swimmers at Longhorn Aquatics and was a counselor at Longhorns Swim Camp. Her club coaching experience began in her native New Hampshire during her summers in college at the Executive Swim Club in Manchester, where she was the head assistant swim coach until July 2015. Ziolek led age group workouts while assisting with the senior group, helping guide the team's largest contingent in its history to New England Seniors.
Ziolek was a four-year varsity swimmer at Tufts University, from where she graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in international relations. Highlights include all-conference and Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America Team honorable mention recognition in 2012 and the school record in the 200-yard freestyle relay, while also being named to the Dean's List five times. Before attending Tufts, she studied for a year at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, and she also studied abroad while at Tufts, spending a semester in St. Petersburg, Russia.