| WyomingAthletics.com | WEB |
|
It has been over a decade since Tom Johnson took the reigns of the Wyoming swimming and diving program and in that time Wyoming has not only become a top-tier program in the Mountain West Conference, it has become a program that has reached the national spotlight. Entering his 11th season at UW, Johnson has led the Cowboys and Cowgirls to great heights. He led Scott Usher to the 2004 Olympic Games following his junior season, he has led UW to 20 individual MWC Championships and has seen three UW student athletes earn Academic All- America honors. The 2007-08 season proved to be one of the most successful in Wyoming swimming and diving history. At the 2008 MWC Championships, both the Cowboys and Cowgirls earned the most MWC team points in UW history and matched their highest finishes in the standings with respective third and fourth place finishes. At the championships, Wyoming won four individual conference championships, had 20 individuals earn First Team All-MWC honors, broke 15 school records and had 45 performances that rank in the top-five of UW's all-time record book. UW's special season did not go unnoticed as Johnson was selected as the MWC Women's Coach of the Year. That marked the third time Johnson has been honored as the top coach in the MWC. He was also named the men's coach of the year following the 2003-04 season and was the women's coach of the year after the 1999-00 season. Aside from UW's success in the conference championship meet, the Cowgirls continued to see a great deal of success in dual meets during the 2007-08 season, finishing with a record of 8-3. In fact, over the past two seasons, the Cowgirls have posted a very impressive 16-5 record in dual meets. They have also posted a 9-1 record at home in Corbett Pool over the past two seasons. They finished third in the regular season MWC standings in each of the past two years, both of which are the highest finishes in school history. One of Johnson's proudest coaching moments came during the summer of 2004. Following his junior season, Wyoming's Scott Usher reached the apex of the swimming world by earning a spot on the coveted United States Olympic Team. Johnson was right by Usher's side as he wore the bucking horse swim cap and raced to a second place finish in the 200-meter breaststroke at the US Olympic Team Trials on national television. In support of Johnson and Usher, the Cowboy Joe Club, along with a local business, raised enough money to send Johnson to the Olympic Games where he watched Usher reach the finals of the 200-meter breaststroke and swim to a seventh place finish in the world. In all, Johnson helped guide Usher to four First Team All-America honors, five overall All-America honors and six MWC Championships during his career at UW. Johnson's coaching philosophy emphasizes making student-athletes strong individuals in and out of the pool. "I am goal oriented and success driven," said Johnson. "I want our student-athletes to have the opportunity to graduate from UW with their heads held high and know that they have made a significant impact on this program and at this school." Academically, the Wyoming swimming and diving program received numerous honors following the 2007-08 season. Aimee Stinson and Tyler Miller were each named Academic All-District VII by ESPN the Magazine and CoSIDA. Also, 27 student-athletes were named Academic All-MWC and 13 athletes were named MWC Scholar Athletes. Johnson has also coached three Academic All-Americans in his time at Wyoming. Aimee Stinson was honored in 2007-08, Kevin Bretting was honored following the 2006-07 season and Erin Spadinger earned the honor following the 2005-06 season. His Cowboy and Cowgirl teams have been honored academically by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America and named Academic All-America teams numerous times. The achievements his teams have made over the past ten seasons are helping Johnson to continue to build the Wyoming swimming and diving program. "Our student-athletes understand where this program is headed and the success it can accomplish and they want to be a part of that," said Johnson. A native of Camillus, N.Y., Johnson was a four-year Wyoming letterwinner as he swam for the Cowboys from 1982-85. Prior to becoming the head swimming and diving coach at Wyoming in 1998, Johnson was the head coach and program director for the Birmingham Swim League in Birmingham, Ala., which consisted of 220 members from the novice level to Olympic trial qualifiers. He guided the Birmingham Swim League from 1994 to 1997, and had 16 swimmers go on to compete at the NCAA Division I level across the United States. After lettering at UW, and ending his swimming career as the school record holder in the 200 breaststroke, Johnson became an assistant coach at Wyoming during the 1985-86 season. In 1987-88, he became the head coach at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. The following year, he returned to his native state of New York as the head coach for the Liverpool Jets Swim Club in Syracuse. From 1989-94, he was the head coach of the Fort Collins Area Swim Team. Johnson earned a number of awards during his coaching career before to coming to Wyoming. He was named Colorado Swimming Coach of the Year in 1993, was selected as a coach for the United States Swimming's Select Camps at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in 1993, `94, `96 and `97, and was named the Southeastern Swimming Coach of the year in 1996. He has achieved a Level 5 certification by the American Swimming Coaches Association, the highest level of certification, and is also a USS and NCAA Division I Level 5 certified coach. Johnson is also a USA Swimming National Team Coach. Johnson and his wife, Cheryl, a native of Cheyenne, have two children, Tommy and Alexandra. |
|
|||||||||||||||
