The 2021-22 season marks Steve Barnes’ ninth year with the Penn State men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs and third as the associate head coach following six years as an assistant coach.
Barnes joined the staff along with head coach Tim Murphy in 2013, and the Nittany Lions have seen continued success under their guidance.
Both the men’s and women’s teams have scored at the NCAA Championships each year the competition took place and both teams have placed in the Top 30 at NCAAs in five out of seven Championships. During Barnes' tenure, two medalists have earned four medals at the NCAA Championships, including 2016 Olympian Shane Ryan's silver (2014) and bronze (2015) medal performances in the men's 100 backstroke and Ally McHugh's silver (2018) and gold (2019) in the women's mile. In total, 31 Penn State student-athletes have earned All-America honors on 87 occasions, with 14 of those earning 18 first-team nods. They have also captured one relay and eight individual Big Ten Championships.
Three Nittany Lions competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Gabe Castano competed in the 50 freestyle for Mexico. Melissa Rodriguez raced in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke events for Mexico. Shane Ryan, competing in his second Olympic games, raced in the 800 freestyle relay and 100 butterfly events for Ireland as part of Ireland’s first men’s relay in the Olympics since 1979. Ryan set an Ireland record with a time of 52.52, a personal best, in the 100 butterfly.
In 2020-21, The Nittany Lions jumped right back into preparations and into the water, posting milestones of success with four school records, 18 top-10 times, dozens of personal bests and the program’s 21st Big Ten champion in Daly (400 IM). In back-to-back years, at least five Penn State competitors have qualified for the NCAA Championships, with seven who would have represented the Nittany Lions in the 2020 NCAA Championships.
Penn State scored points in the NCAA Championships for the ninth-straight year in 2020-21. Six Nittany Lion swimmers (5 men, 1 woman) and a men’s diver competed in the 2020-21 postseason. The five men earned All-America honorable-mention honors as Daly and the 200 free relay team of Gabe Castano, Will Roberson, Jake Houck and Zane Sutton set a Penn State record and finished 13th.
Two podium finishes, including a first Big Ten Champion in the 400 IM, were highlights for the Nittany Lion men at the conference championships, posting 14 top-16 finishes. In addition to Daly’s Big Ten victory in the 400 IM for a personal best and school record, he finished fifth in the 200 backstroke and seventh in the 100 back. Will Roberson earned a silver medal leading three Nittany Lions among the top eight in the 50 freestyle with Houck taking sixth and Castano eighth.
Marie Schobel, who became the first Penn State women’s swimmer to advance to B final of the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 back, scored 42 points at the Big Ten Championship and qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 100 and 200 back events. She finished 22nd in the 100 back and 39th in the 200 back.
The 2019-20 season marked the improvement and stand out performances of senior Maddie Hart, junior Maddie Cooke, sophomore Marie Schobel and sophomore Daniel Raisanen, who all trained under Barnes. Hart swam for the Penn State women’s swimming record in the 200 back (1:53.37) at the 2020 Big Ten Championships, as well as climbing the school’s top times list in several other events, as she Hart placed fourth in the 200 back, third in the 100 fly (51.80) and sixth in the 100 back (52.78). Raisanen broke a school record in the men’s 200 breast (1:55.73). Schobel entered the school’s top-four in the 200 back (1:55.06) and 100 back (52.69). Zac Zwijacz became the second-fastest performer in school history in the men’s 200 fly (1:44.34).
The 2018-19 season was highlighted by the Penn State women’s program’s first individual NCAA National Championship, as Ally McHugh won gold in the mile. McHugh also broke her own record in the 400 IM to lead Penn State to a top-30 finish at NCAAs, and she won the Big Ten mile championship. On the men’s side Michael Daly and Gabe Castano stood out at the NCAA Championships with Daly earning a new school record in the mile and Castano placing 17th in the 50 free. Over the summer, five different Nittany Lions totaled 11 Olympic Trials cuts, led by Daly’s five, and Castano earned a bronze medal at the Pan-Am Games.
In 2017-18, growth was the theme for a pair of young squads. According to SwimSwam.com the Penn State women were the most improved major conference team at a conference championship for the year, while McHugh claimed her first Big Ten Championships with gold in the mile, followed by a runner-up placing in the same event at the NCAA Championships. On the men’s side, the Nittany Lion men’s swimmers posted 47 career-best times during the Big Ten Championships, and 18 of the 25 that traveled to the meet scored.
In 2016-17, McHugh’s emergence, the return of Ryan following a year in Ireland to train for the Olympics boards were the highlights. McHugh was one of three NCAA qualifiers for the women, while Ryan represented the men. Ryan’s impact was felt at the Big Ten Championships where he earned a medal of each color, and he went on to become a three-time All-American in the 100 backstroke. Ryan concluded his career at Penn State with three individual school records, three relay records, two NCAA medals, four All-America nods and three honorable mention All-America honors.
In 2015-16, 10 Lions qualified for the NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships and led Penn State to its third consecutive top-25 finish. Six swimmers earned a combined 10 All-America honorable mention honors. The men’s swimming team was short-handed as its top swimmer, Shane Ryan, spent the academic year training for the 2016 Rio Olympics in Ireland. Ryan became the first Nittany Lion men’s swimmer to advance out of the preliminaries and the highest finishing in program history by placing 16th in the 100m back. Ryan’s mere participation was historic for the Penn State swimming program as he became the second from the men’s side to compete in the Olympics and the first since the 2004 games in Athens.
In 2014-15, Penn State sent a combined total of 17 swimmers to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. On the men’s side, Nate Savoy concluded his Nittany Lion with a pair of honorable mention All-America honors, while Ryan claimed first-team All-America honors and a Big Ten Championship. On the women’s side, the 800 freestyle relay team garnered first-team All-America honors, and Alyson Ackman and Carolyn Fittin garnered a combined three honorable mention All-American honors to lead the women to their second-straight top-20 finish.
In his first season with the program in 2013-14, Barnes helped a squad that had a total of 20 Penn State program records broken, including nine for the men’s team and 11 for the women’s squad. PSU sent 19 swimmers to the 2014 NCAA Championships, where the Nittany Lion men placed 17th and the women finished 18th. Of the seven men and 12 women who competed at the national meet, 12 received CSCAA (College Swimming Coaches Association of America) honorable mention All-America recognition while Ryan and Ackman claimed first team All-America accolades for their efforts.
Barnes came to Penn State after spending the previous four seasons as the head coach of the Wabash College swimming and diving program.
Under Barnes’ leadership, the Wabash team finished fourth at the 2013 North Coast Athletic Conference Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship Meet. Competing against some of the top programs in the nation such as Kenyon and Denison, his Little Giants produced three school records. In 2012, three freshmen made it to the finals at the NCAC Championships. Barnes led the 2010-11 and 2009-10 Little Giant team to back-to-back third-place finishes at the NCAC Men’s Championship meet and sent two swimmers each season to compete at the NCAA Nationals. Both swimmers, David Birrer and Evan Rhinesmith, went on to win All-America honors at the 2011 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships.
Before his time at Wabash, Barnes spent three seasons at Kalamazoo College as an assistant coach. During his three year span, the Hornets set an NCAA record, 39 school records, 36 individual and relay conference titles, 17 conference records, 59 NCAA “B” cuts and 16 NCAA “A” cuts, and nine individual top-eight finishes at the at the NCAA Nationals. After serving two seasons as the assistant coach of the Kalamazoo College men’s and women’s swimming program, he was named interim head coach from January through March of 2008 during head coach Kathy Milliken’s maternity leave.
A 2005 graduate of Ithaca College, Barnes was a four-time All-American and team MVP for the Bombers. Barnes was a 2005 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree and was selected as the Ithaca College Athlete of the Year from 2002-05. He earned Scholar All-America honors from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) four consecutive years. Barnes holds the Ithaca records in the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle races, and was part of the record-setting 800-yard freestyle relay team.
Barnes earned his master’s degree in exercise science from Ithaca in 2006, while working as an assistant coach for the Bombers. He was responsible for dry land training and weightlifting programs for the team in addition to coordinating
