University of Richmond Women's Swimming

Barany focuses on the athletics is education concept. The swimming & diving Spiders work hard to balance success in the water with the rigors of college academics at Richmond. The program has come to set the standard for academic excellence on campus. The Spiders were named a Scholar All-America Team by the College Swimming Coaches Association (CSCAA) for the eighth consecutive year in 2015-16. In 2013, Kelley Yang and Mali Kobelja received Scholar All-America honors. Individually, five other Spiders have earned Academic All-America distinction Caitlin Geary (2007), Katie Sieben (2008 and 2010), Lauren Beaudreau (2009), Nicole LePere (2010 and 2011) and Lauren Hines (2012). Additionally, in 2012 Kobelja was the first Spider (and first swimmer in Atlantic 10 history) to be named an A-10 Scholar of the Year. In 2016, Barany led the Spiders to their sixth straight Atlantic 10 title and 14th overall in the last 15 years with 653.5 points, which is the highest point total in the last three years. Richmond won medals in four of five relays while Richmond swimmers and divers took home 11 medals. For the second consecutive season, the Spiders had a diver win the Most Outstanding Diver at the A-10 Meet, as well as having the Most Outstanding Rookie Performer after Nicole Piercy scored 46 points with two medals. The Spiders have now had the Most Outstanding Rookie Performer for the 11th time in 15 seasons, including the last five honors. The 2014-15 team won the title with a larger conference field. The Spiders won four of the five relays and an additional eight medals, including four golds, adding four fourth-place finishes and five fifth-place in aid of the teams win. For the first time in school history, Richmond had a diver win the Most Outstanding Diver, and Annie Lane was tabbed as the Most Outstanding Rookie Performer. At the 2014 Championship, the Spiders swept the relays and added eight individual medals, including three golds. Every swimmer and diver that competed in the meet scored points for the team. Individual accolades included Kobelja being selected as the championships Most Outstanding Performer for the third consecutive year, a first for a female swimmer in Atlantic 10 Conference history. Under Baranys tutelage, a total of 65 school marks in 16 events have been registered by Richmond swimmers. The Spiders continued to make their presence known on the national stage when Lauren Hines raced to Honorable Mention All-America honors in the 100 back at the 2012 NCAA Championship. With Hines qualification for NCAAs, Barany has coached four NCAA qualifiers (Jessica Witt, Beaudreau, Sieben, and Hines), and had a pair of All-Americans (Witt in 2006 and 2007, and Hines in 2012) during his tenure at Richmond. The success of the Spider program has also been visible at the Olympic Trials. In 2016, Erin Barry, Lauren Hines and Hannah Gouger competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha. Hines along with former teammate Kobelja participated in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, while 2012 alumna Charlotte Brackett qualified for the 2012 British Olympic Trials in London. This now brings the total to seven Olympic Trials qualifiers (Sieben and Beaudreau in 2008). Barany practices what he preaches, earning his MBA from Richmond in 2014. For his Capstone Project, he worked in conjunction with The DO School to support the growth of MGI Enterprises. The DO School is a German non-profit located in Hamburg, Germany focused on developing social entrepreneurs from around the world. MGI is a group of social entrepreneurs working to create energy and technology solutions for rural western Kenyans. He worked with MGI to analyze their day-to-day operations and to survey potential opportunities, mainly the implementation of solar energy, in their attempt to improve the lives of the Kenyan rural poor. He visited The DO School (May 20-24) to present his Capstone and to assist in the development of the next generation of DO School entrepreneurs. He maintains a relationship with The DO School and MGI. He was selected as the 2014 Outstanding Graduate of the Year by the MBA Alumni Society. He is also still very connected to the campus community and serves as the Vice Chair of USAC. A native of Midlothian, Va., Barany swam for James Madison University. The Dukes' captain as a senior, he swam freestyle on teams that captured four-straight CAA Championships (1992-95) and three ECAC titles (1993-1995). Barany was a two-time recipient of the Steve Miller Award - an annual team honor that recognizes athletes who best exemplify enthusiasm, energy, dedication and love for the sport. Barany earned his undergraduate degree from JMU in 1995 with a B.A. in English. He earned a secondary education certificate in 1996. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, Barany taught English in the Laikipia region of Kenya from 1996-1998. In 1999, Barany helped launch the women's swimming program at Randolph-Macon College. During his final season (2001) in Ashland, VA, he earned Old Dominion Athletic Conference, Atlantic States Conference and Randolph Macon Coach of the Year honors. Barany returned to Harrisonburg in July 2001 as the head men's swimming coach - a position he held for the next three seasons. Barany assumed the role of director of swimming & diving for the Dukes, coaching both the men and women's programs in 2004. A graduate of Clover Hill High School in Midlothian, Va., Barany currently resides in Richmond.  

Letsinger was honored as the Diving Coach of the Year. At the 2015 Atlantic 10 Championship meet, Richmond diver Irina Chiulli did something no Richmond diver had ever done, she took home the Most Outstanding Diver award after becoming the second diver in school history to win gold in a Conference Championship Meet. Chiulli repeated as the A-10 3m diving champion and won the Most Outstanding diver award, as the team won its 14th Championship in 15 seasons. Letsinger coached Chiulli to break her own school record in the 3m during her junior season, while also becoming the new record holder in the 1m event. At the 2015 Atlantic 10 Championship in the 3m finals, she also broke her own school record with a score of 314.60. Letsinger also had two divers qualify to the NCAA Zone Meet in back-to-back seasons. The 2015 meet also marked the first time all three divers scored in both the 1m and 3m events in back-to-back years since becoming an Atlantic 10 Conference member in 2001. Chiulli was A-10 Performer of the Week twice, and freshman Laura Rokop earned A-10 Rookie of the Week during the season. Chiulli competed at the NCAA Diving Zones for the first time after her freshman year in 2014, making her way to the finals of the 3m spring board event, finishing 15th, the highest finish for a Richmond diver in several years. Chiulli posted a mark of 310.06 in the 3m to set the school record for the first time in her career, and won seven dual meets. She also capturted three A-10 Rookie of the Week honors during the season. Letsinger spent the 20122013 season as the mens and womens diving coach at South Dakota State University. In his short time there, he led his divers to 22 individual personal best performances, 18 individual wins, 14 individual second place finishes, and 7 new school records. Letsinger played a pivotal role in leading the mens team to its first undefeated dual meet season in school history (70). Under his leadership, his divers raised the mens three meter school record by 28.73 points and raised the mens one meter school record by 42.22 points. At the 2013 Summit League Conference Championships, his divers had respectable performances. Senior diver, Brad Schoreit, started off the meet by winning a bronze medal in the mens one meter springboard event, which helped the mens team edge out IUPUI for the second place title of the championships. Freshman diver, Olivia Olesiak, won a bronze medal in the womens three meter springboard event, which marked the first medal earned in the event since SDSU joined the conference in 2007. Both Schoreit and Olesiak were named to the Summit Leagues 20122013 All-League Team. Letsinger also led Schoreit and junior, Clark Kocourek, to qualify to compete in the NCAA Zone D Championships. Kocourek and Schoreit make up the 2nd and 3rd persons respectively to have ever achieved a qualifying score in school history. During his yearlong stint at SDSU, both the mens and womens teams earned the highest team grade point averages in program history. The mens team earned a 3.116, and the womens team earned a 3.500 in the spring 2013 semester.  A native of Knoxville, TN, Letsinger was a letterman diver at the University of Tennessee from 20072010. He was awarded the first ever Inspiration Award at the 2010 Volscars in honor of his perseverance through extreme personal obstacles.  During the following two seasons, he went on to become the student assistant diving coach at UT and assisted head coach, Dave Parrington, in leading his divers to multiple top finishes in the 2012 SEC Championships. Letsinger held the assistant diving coach position for Tennessee Diving for eight years (20042012). During his time with Tennessee Diving, he assisted in coaching multiple city, state, regional, zone, and national finalists and champions. Letsinger coached divers including Jacob Siler, who was the gold medalist in the 12-13 three meter event at the  2011 USA Diving Age Group National Championships, and Samuel Smith, who was a finalist in the 2012 USA Diving Olympic Trials. Additionally, Letsinger served as the head diving coach for Knoxville Catholic High School for four years (20082012). During his time coaching at KCHS, his divers consistently finished in the top eight in all major high school championships. Letsinger coached Emily Boone to a gold medal in the 2012 Knoxville City High School Diving Championships in her senior season. Prior to college, Letsinger qualified and competed in 14 USA Junior Olympic Nationals, one USA Diving Junior Olympic World Trials (2002), two USA vs. Canada Junior Challenges (2002, 2003), and one Junior Olympic Pan-American Games (2003). He competed on several USA Diving international teams which included Olympic medalists: Nick McCrory, Kristian Ipsen, and Kelci Bryant. Letsinger remains the current record holder of the Knoxville Area high school city championships (571.90) and has held that record since 2005. While in high school, he was named Texas Roadhouse High School Athlete of the Week, Tennessee State High School Diver of the Year, and Academic All-American on numerous occasions. Letsinger graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management with a minor in Business from the University of Tennessee in May 2011. He received his Master of Science in Sport and Recreation Studies from South Dakota State University in December, 2014. In addition to his coaching endeavors at the University of Richmond, Letsinger is the owner, director, and head diving coach for Richmond Area Diving, LLC (RAD). Sean and his partner, Stefan, reside in Richmond with their dog, Browser. Sean Letsinger Coaching Highlights   Sean Letsinger Coaching Highlights

Mullins makes the 2014-15 staff complete. I am very grateful for the opportunity to join the Richmond Swimming and Diving staff, said Mullins.  The team culture, campus atmosphere, and Matt's vision for the program all made me excited to become part of the Richmond program. I'm excited to work with Matt and Sean to continue to build upon the tradition and success they have built. Mullins joins the Spiders after a year at Division III Amherst College in Massachusetts. She served as recruiting coordinator while planning, developing and overseeing the dry land training for the squad, which finished second for both men and women at the the 2014 NESCAC Championships and in the Top 11 (women sixth, men 11) at the Division III National Championships. Amherst produced 14 All-Americans and one national champion last season. Were excited for Erin to join us, said Barany Sean and I have compiled a lengthy to-do list and we hope she can complete all items in her first weekwith our help of course! Prior to her time in the Northeast, Mullins obtained a Masters degree in Sport Management in 2013 from Indiana State while coaching for two seasons at DePauw University, which twice earned third place in the programs first two seasons in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Mullins is a 2011 Summa cum Laude graduate of the University of Cincinnati, where she lettered four times and captained the Bearcats for two seasons. She was a two-time BIG EAST Championships finalist and a four-time All-BIG EAST Academic Team member. Mullins was a coach and counselor at the Virginia Swim Camp in Charlottesville the past two summers and at the Army Swim Camp in West Point, New York this past summer.