Coach Tim Murphy
Tim Murphy is the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lion men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs, who partnered with Dolfin in 2015. In his first season at PSU, Murphy led both the men’s and women’s programs to top-20 finishes at the 2014 NCAA Championships and top-five finishes at the Big Ten Championships, marking one of the most successful seasons in school history for either program.
A total of 20 Penn State program records were broken throughout the season, including nine for the men’s team and 11 for the women’s squad. Penn State sent 19 swimmers to the 2014 NCAA Championships, where the Nittany Lion men placed 17th and the women finished 18th.
Murphy came to Penn State on August 12, 2013 after spending the previous 15 seasons as Harvard’s men’s head coach. He is the seventh coach in men’s history and the fifth coach for the women’s program.
During his time with the Crimson, Murphy compiled a 122-11 dual meet record and captured six Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League titles. He posted seven undefeated dual meet seasons and brought three Top 20 recruiting classes to Cambridge, Mass. during his final three seasons. His 2012-13 recruits were ranked as the nation’s No. 10 recruiting class by CollegeSwimming.com.
Murphy’s swimmers own 13 Harvard school records, four of the five relays marks and own almost 80 percent of the Top 10 marks in Crimson history. He has seen seven of his student-athletes earn Academic All-Ivy League and his 2006 squad earned the College Swimming Coaches Association of American Academic Team Award.
He has seen 63 swimmers or divers earn first team All-Ivy League on 251 different occasions, along with numerous second team All-Ivy League picks. Alex Meyer finished 10th at the 2012 Olympic Games in the 10K Marathon event and is an Open Water World Champion in the 25K event.
Murphy was appointed as the head Olympic coach for the men’s open water team at the 2012 Olympic Games and serves on the OIOC committee for USA Swimming. He has placed athletes on Olympic, World University, Pan-Pacific and Pan-American teams, including Meyer, who was named the 2011 Fran Crippen Memorial Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year by USA Swimming.
Murphy, who served as an assistant men’s coach at the 2009 World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia, also worked as an assistant at the 2001 World University Games in Beijing and at the 1993 World Short Course Championships. He was also a member of the Open Water Staff at the 1998 World Championships in Australia.
Before his arrival at Harvard, Murphy spent 13 years as the head coach of the nationally renowned Wilton YMCA Wahoos in Wilton, Conn. He led the Wahoos to seven national championships and was named the YMCA National Coach of the Year in 1989. Murphy also garnered Connecticut Swimming Coaches Association Coach of the Year honors in 1988 and 1998.
Murphy graduated from West Chester (Pa.) University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from. He also earned his master’s degree in physical education from West Chester in 1988. Murphy was inducted into the West Chester Hall of Fame in 2012.
