After using an interim head coach for the entire 2013-14 season, Ohio University Director of Athletics Jim Schaus announced the hiring of Rachel Komisarz-Baugh as the new swimming and diving coach Monday.
Komisarz-Baugh takes the helm from coach Derick Roe, who assumed his position prior to Ohio’s meet at Ball State on Oct. 26, just days before OU fired former coach Greg Werner.
She will seek to rebuild the program as she is just Ohio’s second head coach since the 1995-96 season. This past year under Roe, the Bobcats finished sixth out of eight teams at the Mid-American Conference Championships — the team's worst finish since 1981 when there were nine MAC programs.
Komisarz-Baugh was the associate men’s and women’s swimming coach at Louisville the past five seasons seasons. As a coach, she helped the women’s team earn a ranking of 13th in the nation this season and coached eight women and seven men to the NCAA Championships. She also guided Louisville’s women’s swimmers to three consecutive Big East titles from 2010-13 season.
Komisarz-Baugh has also competed in the Olympics where she won gold and silver medals for Team USA at the 2004 Olympics.
“(Komisarz-Baugh) has a national reputation as a recruiter, trainer and coach,” Schaus said in a news release. “Rachel has played a key role in Louisville becoming a national power in swimming. When you have won a gold and silver Olympic medal, you understand the highest level of excellence and how to achieve it.”
In addition to her Olympic success, Komisarz-Baugh, a 1999 graduate of the University of Kentucky, was named the Southeastern Conference swimmer of the year and won three SEC Championships during her time as a student-athlete.
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