Josh Graham is in his third year with Penn State swimming & diving. He returned to Penn State in 2018 as the distance and IM coach after graduating in 2009.
In the 2019-20 season, Graham coached sophomore backstroker and distance freestyler Michael Daly, who broke the school record in the 200 free (1:34.73) at Big Ten Championships as the lead-off split in the 800 free relay. He also placed second in the 200 back, qualifying for NCAA championships in that race and in the 400 IM. Graham also coached Daly to his 400 IM and mile school records during his freshman year, also competing in both races at the 2019 NCAA Championships.
In his first year, Graham coached NCAA Championship-winner and All-American Ally McHugh to a historic win in the mile at the 2019 NCAA Championships. McHugh also broke the 400 IM record her senior year, and the 500 and 1000 free Penn State records as well. She is a U.S. National Champion in the 400 IM and the first ever to come from Penn State, as well as being a member of the U.S. National Team.
Graham served on the staff of the Davidson swimming & diving program prior to returning to Penn State and was responsible for the teams' middle-distance and distance groups. During his tenure at Davidson, Graham coached 15 conference champions and saw his athletes break more than 30 school records. He coached, a 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee, who boasted the second-highest average improvement from seed time at the 2017 NCAA Championships and was an Atlantic 10 record-tying, three-time "Most Outstanding Performer" at the conference championship meet. In his first season at Davidson, Graham helped guide the men's squad to the 2013 Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) Conference Championship, headlined by the CCSA Male Swimmer of the Year.
Graham also led recruiting efforts for the Davidson men, bringing in the fastest incoming freshmen in school history in 10 out of 14 events. The men's team has also been successful in the classroom, posting top-15 team grade-point averages in each of the past four seasons while producing it's first-ever Google Cloud Academic All-American.
Prior to Davidson, Graham served as the lead senior coach at South Eastern Virginia Aquatics (SEVA) in Newport News, Virginia. At SEVA, Graham worked primarily with swimmers transitioning to the Senior Level. In 2013, his 13 & 14 boys' squad broke Virginia's 20-year-old state records in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle relays for both long and short course. The relays ranked among the top-8 in the nation and earned Graham a position as a Zone Select Team coach with Virginia Swimming.
Graham earned a Bachelor of Science in criminology in 2009 from Penn State, where he was a consistent contributor to the Nittany Lions' success at the Big Ten Championship meet all four years. He is a former Virginia state record holder in the 200-yard freestyle - a mark that was later broken by his good friend & teammate, former American record holder David Walters. A certified ASCA level-3 coach, Graham hails from Newport News.
