Paul Graham, AU's swimming and diving coach for the last 14 years, is leaving the university to accept the position of head swimming and diving coach at Cleveland State.
At CSU, Graham takes over for Wally Morton, who spent 39 years leading the Vikings.
Graham's AU tenure has been filled with success. He was the 2010 NCAA Women's Coach of the Year. He was the GLIAC Coach of the Year twice (2001, 2010). His Ashland teams enjoyed 13, Top 20 finishes. This year, the AU men were 18th and the women were 20th.
At one point, Graham's team produced a national champion in four consecutive years. In 2010-11, the AU women finished fifth at nationals. That's the best finish in program history by a women's swimming team.
Graham recruited and coached Julie Widmann, one of the most successful swimmers in school history. She's one of two women at AU to win an individual national championship and was a 23-time All-American.
During his stay at Ashland, Graham coached five Capital One Academic All-Americans and one NCAA postgraduate scholar. Last year, Widmann was a Capital One First Team Academic All-American and the Capital One Women's At Large Capital One Academic All-American of the Year.
Graham also developed and directed AU's highly successful swim school. That program taught the basics of swimming to youngsters of all ages.
Graham came to AU from Wright State, where he served as an assistant coach from 1995-2000. He is a1988 Marshall University graduate.
AU
SWIM/ALK