Northwestern University Men's Diving

Schroeder, who served as the interim head coach at Maryland in 2007-08, joined Northwestern as an assistant coach prior to the 2008-09 season. He was elevated to NU's head coaching position effective Sept. 1, 2009, following the retirement of 20-year head man Bob Groseth. Schroeder is in his sixth season at the helm of the Wildcats. Schroeder immediately set to work putting his stamp on the program while regaining and maintaining the Wildcats' recent history of national success. In his first year in charge in Evanston, Schroeder coached both Sean Mathews and Alex Tyler to 2010 NCAA Championships appearances, with Tyler picking up an All-America honorable mention honor in the 200 IM to give NU a 34th-place national finish. Schroeder implemented a unique strength training program and took the squad to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., over winter break to give his Wildcats a chance to worked toward the kind of success he had as a competitor while training at the facility. The Wildcats improved upon their national effort in 2010-11, landing three at the NCAA meet and improving to a 30th-place national finish after both Tyler and Mathews recorded honorable mention All-America performances. It marked the 10th time in the last 11 years that Northwestern has scored points at the NCAA Championships. Sophomore Charlie Rimkus joined the senior duo at the national meet for the first time to give the Wildcats their largest NCAA contingent since 2008. Northwestern has sent swimmers to the NCAA Championships in five of Schroeder's six seasons. In addition, NU swimmers have seen success outside of the collegiate pool, most notably in 2013 when then-freshman Jordan Wilimovsky earned an open water spot in the 25K event on USA Swimming's National A Team for the FINA World Championships in Barcelona. He followed that up with a No. 2 finish in the 2014 Open Water National Championships in both the 5K and 10K to earn a spot on USA Swimmings' Pan-Pac Team. Wilimovsky also became an All-American in 2013-14, finishing No. 4 in the NCAA Championships in the mile and No. 2 at the Big Ten Championships. Recruiting really picked up for Schroeder with the incoming class of 2012-13, featuring several strong homegrown and international talents and earning the No. 16 national class ranking from Collegeswimming.com. In his six seasons, Schroeder has compiled a 37-31-1 dual meet record at Northwestern, including several wins over nationally ranked opponents. Coupled with his interim head coach season at Maryland, his career dual record is 40-36-1. The move back to Evanston essentially was a homecoming. Schroeder has been a part of the Wildcats' program either directly or indirectly since 1993. The 1995 graduate of Northern Illinois trained with Groseth in Evanston in the summers during his collegiate career, served as a head age group coach with the Northwestern Aquatic Swim Association (NASA) beginning in 2000 and was a volunteer assistant with NU's varsity programs from 2000-06. In addition to his duties with the Wildcats which continued until 2006, Schroeder served as the head coach of the New Trier Swim Club beginning in 2002. While at New Trier, he developed Olympic Trials qualifiers, U.S. Open finalists and U.S. National finalists, and was named the Illinois Swimming Coach of the year on two occasions. Schroeder took his first full-time collegiate job in 2006-07 as an assistant coach at Maryland, earning interim head coaching duties the following year in 2007-08. He coached his team to seven school-record swims during a rebuilding phase in the program's history. Schroeder had a decorated career in the pool despite getting a late start. A swimmer until the age of 10, Schroeder stepped away to excel at other sports before returning as a senior in high school. A walk-on at Northern Illinois, Schroeder became a team captain who won three Mid-American Conference Swimmer of the Year awards, two Illinois Collegiate Swimmer of the Year honors and seven individual conference championships under head coach Jeanne Fleck. He was inducted into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. Schroeder continued to train with Groseth following graduation knowing he had a lot left to accomplish during his relatively short competitive career. He qualified for his first Olympic Trials in 1996, finishing 12th in the 100 fly. He then made the United States' squads for the 1998 Pan-American Games and the 1999 Goodwill Games, earning election as captain on the Pan-Am squad. Following his time as a student-athlete, Schroeder took on volunteer assistant coaching jobs at his alma mater and the University of Wisconsin. Schroeder and his wife, Liz, have two sons, Tate and Turner. Jarod Schroeder Head Coach Jarod Schroeder, who served as the interim head coach at Maryland in 2007-08, joined Northwestern as an assistant coach prior to the 2008-09 season. He was elevated to NU's head coaching position effective Sept. 1, 2009, following the retirement of 20-year head man Bob Groseth. Schroeder is in his sixth season at the helm of the Wildcats. Schroeder immediately set to work putting his stamp on the program while regaining and maintaining the Wildcats' recent history of national success. In his first year in charge in Evanston, Schroeder coached both Sean Mathews and Alex Tyler to 2010 NCAA Championships appearances, with Tyler picking up an All-America honorable mention honor in the 200 IM to give NU a 34th-place national finish. Schroeder implemented a unique strength training program and took the squad to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., over winter break to give his Wildcats a chance to worked toward the kind of success he had as a competitor while training at the facility. The Wildcats improved upon their national effort in 2010-11, landing three at the NCAA meet and improving to a 30th-place national finish after both Tyler and Mathews recorded honorable mention All-America performances. It marked the 10th time in the last 11 years that Northwestern has scored points at the NCAA Championships. Sophomore Charlie Rimkus joined the senior duo at the national meet for the first time to give the Wildcats their largest NCAA contingent since 2008. Northwestern has sent swimmers to the NCAA Championships in five of Schroeder's six seasons. In addition, NU swimmers have seen success outside of the collegiate pool, most notably in 2013 when then-freshman Jordan Wilimovsky earned an open water spot in the 25K event on USA Swimming's National A Team for the FINA World Championships in Barcelona. He followed that up with a No. 2 finish in the 2014 Open Water National Championships in both the 5K and 10K to earn a spot on USA Swimmings' Pan-Pac Team. Wilimovsky also became an All-American in 2013-14, finishing No. 4 in the NCAA Championships in the mile and No. 2 at the Big Ten Championships. Recruiting really picked up for Schroeder with the incoming class of 2012-13, featuring several strong homegrown and international talents and earning the No. 16 national class ranking from Collegeswimming.com. In his six seasons, Schroeder has compiled a 37-31-1 dual meet record at Northwestern, including several wins over nationally ranked opponents. Coupled with his interim head coach season at Maryland, his career dual record is 40-36-1. The move back to Evanston essentially was a homecoming. Schroeder has been a part of the Wildcats' program either directly or indirectly since 1993. The 1995 graduate of Northern Illinois trained with Groseth in Evanston in the summers during his collegiate career, served as a head age group coach with the Northwestern Aquatic Swim Association (NASA) beginning in 2000 and was a volunteer assistant with NU's varsity programs from 2000-06. In addition to his duties with the Wildcats which continued until 2006, Schroeder served as the head coach of the New Trier Swim Club beginning in 2002. While at New Trier, he developed Olympic Trials qualifiers, U.S. Open finalists and U.S. National finalists, and was named the Illinois Swimming Coach of the year on two occasions. Schroeder took his first full-time collegiate job in 2006-07 as an assistant coach at Maryland, earning interim head coaching duties the following year in 2007-08. He coached his team to seven school-record swims during a rebuilding phase in the program's history. Schroeder had a decorated career in the pool despite getting a late start. A swimmer until the age of 10, Schroeder stepped away to excel at other sports before returning as a senior in high school. A walk-on at Northern Illinois, Schroeder became a team captain who won three Mid-American Conference Swimmer of the Year awards, two Illinois Collegiate Swimmer of the Year honors and seven individual conference championships under head coach Jeanne Fleck. He was inducted into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. Schroeder continued to train with Groseth following graduation knowing he had a lot left to accomplish during his relatively short competitive career. He qualified for his first Olympic Trials in 1996, finishing 12th in the 100 fly. He then made the United States' squads for the 1998 Pan-American Games and the 1999 Goodwill Games, earning election as captain on the Pan-Am squad. Following his time as a student-athlete, Schroeder took on volunteer assistant coaching jobs at his alma mater and the University of Wisconsin. Schroeder and his wife, Liz, have two sons, Tate and Turner.

Sarkisian was named Northwestern's head men's and women's diving coach prior to the 2006-07 season, and just completed his ninth year at the helm of the diving corps. Sarkisian joined the Wildcats after five years as the Director and Head Coach at the USA Diving Regional Training Center. In his first season at the helm, Sarkisian coached men's divers Ryan McIntosh and Alex Kiaie to scoring performances in all three diving events at the Big Ten Championships. His divers from both squads qualified for NCAA Zone Diving competition. On the women's side in 2007-08, fifth-year senior Leanne Dumais returned from a medical hardship season to reach the finals on both spring boards for the first time in her career. She became the first NU women's diver ever to finish in the top-eight in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events at the same Big Ten Championships. After finding success with his inherited student-athletes, Sarkisian quickly learned the recruiting ropes in his first collegiate job, as well. He signed Felicitas Lenz to the women's team for the 2009-10 season; Lenz participated in the 2009 AT&T National Diving Championship in addition to racking up three top-10 finishes at the Speedo Junior National Diving Championship during the summer of 2009. Lenz would go on to win All-Big Ten honors on the 10-meter platform in 2012, becoming the first Wildcat to do so since 2006. She qualified for NCAA Zones in all four of her seasons, racked up 30 total career event victories and was a multiple-time Big Ten Diver of the Week. Sarkisian recruited Lenz's younger sister, Cosima, to Northwestern as part of that 2010-11 class, and she immediately gave the Wildcats two scoring threats in every event. In the 2013-14 class, Sarkisian inked a trio of men's diving with impeccable credentials including Starz Diving teammates Andrew Cramer and Reed Dillon, both Junior National qualifiers. Cramer quickly broke Northwestern's diving records in the 3-meter and platform events in his freshman year. Sarkisian owns a wealth of head coaching experience. He began his coaching career as the USSR National Team coach from 1980-1990 before becoming the National Team coach in his native Armenia from 1991-93. He then moved to the United States where he was an assistant with Rose Bowl Aquatics in Pasadena, Calif., from 1993-98 before assuming the head coaching position with the Trojan Dive Club and the assistant coaching job at USC from 1998-2001. Sarkisian has earned a number of coaching accomplishments within USA and international diving, most notably serving as the USA National Team Coach for the 2003 and 2005 Pan-Am Games. He has coached at numerous FINA Grand Prix events and Olympic trials and training camps. In 1996, he was Armenia's National Team coach at the Atlanta Olympic Games.In 2008, Sarkisian served as Team USA's head coach at the Grand Prix meet in Moscow, Russia. He also was a selector at the U.S. Olympic Selection Camp for the 2008 Beijing Games and a judge at the 2008 Olympic Trials. In 2013, Sarkisian was selected as the head coach of the 12-member USA Diving contingent at the World University Games in Russia. A 13-time Armenian national champion, Sarkisian competed internationally for the USSR. He graduated in 1980 with professional level training in sports science and education from the USSR State University of Physical Education in Yerevan, Armenia. Alik Sarkisian Diving Coach Alik Sarkisian was named Northwestern's head men's and women's diving coach prior to the 2006-07 season, and just completed his ninth year at the helm of the diving corps. Sarkisian joined the Wildcats after five years as the Director and Head Coach at the USA Diving Regional Training Center. In his first season at the helm, Sarkisian coached men's divers Ryan McIntosh and Alex Kiaie to scoring performances in all three diving events at the Big Ten Championships. His divers from both squads qualified for NCAA Zone Diving competition. On the women's side in 2007-08, fifth-year senior Leanne Dumais returned from a medical hardship season to reach the finals on both spring boards for the first time in her career. She became the first NU women's diver ever to finish in the top-eight in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events at the same Big Ten Championships. After finding success with his inherited student-athletes, Sarkisian quickly learned the recruiting ropes in his first collegiate job, as well. He signed Felicitas Lenz to the women's team for the 2009-10 season; Lenz participated in the 2009 AT&T National Diving Championship in addition to racking up three top-10 finishes at the Speedo Junior National Diving Championship during the summer of 2009. Lenz would go on to win All-Big Ten honors on the 10-meter platform in 2012, becoming the first Wildcat to do so since 2006. She qualified for NCAA Zones in all four of her seasons, racked up 30 total career event victories and was a multiple-time Big Ten Diver of the Week. Sarkisian recruited Lenz's younger sister, Cosima, to Northwestern as part of that 2010-11 class, and she immediately gave the Wildcats two scoring threats in every event. In the 2013-14 class, Sarkisian inked a trio of men's diving with impeccable credentials including Starz Diving teammates Andrew Cramer and Reed Dillon, both Junior National qualifiers. Cramer quickly broke Northwestern's diving records in the 3-meter and platform events in his freshman year. Sarkisian owns a wealth of head coaching experience. He began his coaching career as the USSR National Team coach from 1980-1990 before becoming the National Team coach in his native Armenia from 1991-93. He then moved to the United States where he was an assistant with Rose Bowl Aquatics in Pasadena, Calif., from 1993-98 before assuming the head coaching position with the Trojan Dive Club and the assistant coaching job at USC from 1998-2001. Sarkisian has earned a number of coaching accomplishments within USA and international diving, most notably serving as the USA National Team Coach for the 2003 and 2005 Pan-Am Games. He has coached at numerous FINA Grand Prix events and Olympic trials and training camps. In 1996, he was Armenia's National Team coach at the Atlanta Olympic Games.In 2008, Sarkisian served as Team USA's head coach at the Grand Prix meet in Moscow, Russia. He also was a selector at the U.S. Olympic Selection Camp for the 2008 Beijing Games and a judge at the 2008 Olympic Trials. In 2013, Sarkisian was selected as the head coach of the 12-member USA Diving contingent at the World University Games in Russia. A 13-time Armenian national champion, Sarkisian competed internationally for the USSR. He graduated in 1980 with professional level training in sports science and education from the USSR State University of Physical Education in Yerevan, Armenia.

Sheaff joined Northwestern as the Wildcats' men's swimming assistant coach prior to the 2012-13 season. He arrived in Evanston after three seasons as an assistant coach at Bucknell. In his first season at Northwestern, Sheaff helped coach junior Chase Stephens and freshman Jordan Wilimovsky to 2013 NCAA Championships berths. Stephens lowered his previous collegiate bests in the sprint events so significantly that he became the fourth-fastest Wildcat in history in the 50 and 100 freestyles, joining elite company. Wilimovsky made the NCAA meet in the mile before going on to win a berth on the USA Swimming Open Water National Team for the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona. Prior to his stop in Lewisburg, Pa., Sheaff served as a volunteer assistant coach at Maryland the previous two years, obtaining a master's degree in exercise physiology. While there, he also worked with NU head coach Jarod Schroeder when Schroeder was Maryland's interim head coach in 2007-08. Sheaff, who graduated summa cum laude from Pittsburgh in 2007, was a research assistant in the Maryland Kinesiogenomics Laboratory while in College Park. During his senior year at Pittsburgh and immediately following graduation, Sheaff performed internships with the Cleveland Browns and the University of Pittsburgh football teams. He helped with strength and conditioning aspects of athlete development at both stops. As an undergraduate, Sheaff was a four-year member of the Panthers' swimming and diving team. He was a four-time Big East Academic All-Star and a four-time University Scholar-Athlete. Additionally, Sheaff posted the highest grade-point average on the team twice and also posted perfect 4.0s on four occasions.