Kauth enters his first season as the head coach of the men's and women's swimming programs in 2022-2023.
COACHING BIO
Ryan Kauth was hired on April 13, 2022, as the new head coach of the men’s and women’s swimming teams as well as aquatics director for Fredricksen Natatorium. Kauth brings seven years of coaching experience to Grantham from a wide array of institutions, including stops as a head coach at Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, Calif.) and graduate assistant at Concordia University Irvine (Irvine, Calif. - NCAA Division II). Kauth spent four years as the head coach of the Biola University Eagles (La Mirada, Calif. - NCAA Division II) before spending this past season as an assistant coach with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Atlanta, Ga. - NCAA Division I).
As mentioned, Kauth brings a wide variety of coaching experiences to Grantham. He spent four seasons as the head coach of the Biola Eagles turning both the men’s and women’s teams into Conference Champions in his final season of 2020-21. After a brief stint in Atlanta as an assistant coach with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Kauth is ready to begin his tenure in Grantham.
A 2015 graduate from Concordia University Irvine, Kauth was a four-year member of the Eagles’ swimming team. A four-time NAIA National Qualifier and five-time NAIA National Championship Finalist, Kauth still sees his name appear in the program’s top-10 performance list in the 200 Free (seventh, 1:41.81) and the 500 Free (seventh, 4:39.72).
After earning his degree in Exercise and Sports Science, Kauth then claimed his Master’s in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia Irvine as well in 2016. While pursuing his Master’s, Kauth was a graduate assistant coach for the Eagles.
From 2014-202, Kauth served as an assistant varsity coach at Mater Dei High School and helped the men’s team claim three-straight Trinity League Championships in 2015, 2016, and 2017. In the fall of 2017, he was named the head coach of the Biola Eagles where he took over a program in the middle of the pack in the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference (PCSC). Over the course of his four years at Biola, the Eagles steadily climbed in the conference standings, eventually winning both the men’s and women’s Conference Championships in his final season of 2021.
During his time at Biola, Kauth helped take the Eagles to new heights. Across the men’s and women’s programs, Biola had 65 record breaking swims during his four seasons. The Eagles had three All-American performances, including the first-ever All-American (any sport) in Biola history. At his four Conference Championship Meets, Kauth coached the Eagles to 26 Individual and Relay PCSC Conference Championships with 22 Individual Champions and four Relay Titles.
On the women’s side, his team jumped from eighth in the conference during his first season of 2018 to third in 2019 before winning the conference in 2021. On the men’s side, Biola earned top-five finishes in all four of his seasons, finishing with the Conference Championship in 2021 alongside the women.
In 2021, Kauth jumped across the country and joined the coaching staff at Georgia Tech, helping the Yellow Jackets to a fifth-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), their highest finish since 2016. In total, the Yellow Jackets broke 13 program records during his year in Atlanta.
Kauth becomes just the third head coach in Messiah swimming history and takes over a women’s program that has claimed eight of the last nine Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championships, including the 2022 Title. On the men’s side, Messiah has finished in the top-six at the MAC Championships in all 12 of their years as a program.
Last updated: 12/06/22