Retiring UC Santa Barbara men’s and women’s swimming coach Gregg Wilson will receive the National Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming Trophy at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, the College Swimming Coaches Association of America announced Monday.
According to the CSCAA, it’s “the highest award of its kind in the United States. It is presented to an individual or organization for having contributed in an outstanding way to swimming as a competitive sport and as a healthful recreation activity at schools and colleges.”
“To receive this award based on a selection by my peers is a wonderful honor and I am truly humbled to be associated with the previous distinguished recipients,” Wilson said.
Previous winners include numerous former U.S. Olympic Team coaches as well as the upper echelon of collegiate coaches since it was first awarded in 1959.
In 1979 Gregg Wilson led UCSB to the Big West Men’s Swimming Championship. It was the start of a 23-year run of conference titles for the Gauchos. All told, Wilson has guided UCSB to 39 league championships in four different conferences.
In addition to the 39-team championships that Wilson’s squads won, he coached 427 individuals and relay teams to conference championships, 21 of his swimmers earned either Big West Conference or Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Swimmer of the Year Honors and five were named Freshman of the Year. On the national level, Wilson guided 72 swimmers to All-American status, while on the international stage he coached three Olympians, including USA gold medalists Richard Schroeder and Jason Lezak.
Much more difficult to measure than the All-Americans, conference titles and coach of the year honors are the scores of athletes that were influenced by Wilson during his four decades in coaching.
Following the 2016 Olympic Trials, Wilson will step down from a 40-year career. His legacy will continue, however through the creation of the Gregg and Carol Wilson Swimming Enhancement Fund to supplement the swimming program’s operational budget.