MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Coach Vic Riggs has announced the employment of Lauren Cassano as the women’s associate head coach on Wednesday.
“I am delighted to have Lauren join our program as the new associate head coach for women’s swimming and diving,” said Riggs. “As I got to know Lauren during the interview process, her dedication to her student-athletes and their overall development as young men was an important factor in our search. I look forward to Lauren joining the Mountain Family and help our program continue to be the best it can be.”
“I am honored to be named the associate head coach of women’s swimming here at WVU,” said Cassano. “I look forward to being a positive addition to this strong coaching staff and continuing to develop fine student-athletes. I am grateful to Coach Riggs for this tremendous opportunity.”
The native of Venetia, Pennsylvania, joins WVU after spending last season as the assistant swimming coach at the University of St. Francis. Under her leadership, a pool record and the old school record fell as she helped develop an NEC Rookie and multiple NEC Players of the Week.
While coaching at SFU, Cassano oversaw the progress and execution of the sprint and distance IM training groups, as well as supported academic success for her student-athletes. The Red Flash were able to maintain their success in the classroom as well. As a team, the swimmers maintained a 3.5 grade point average for the year, with eight women achieving a 4.0 GPA. SFU Swimming was awarded the highest percentage of athletes in the North Honor Conference (NEC) at 88.4% as well as a consistent 100% graduation rate.
Prior to SFU, Cassano was the assistant swimming coach at Allegheny College for two seasons. While there, the Gators achieved their highest North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) finishes in recent years for both the women and men, finishing third and sixth, respectively. The women broke the 400 freestyle relay record and multiple athletes were named NCAC Athlete of the Week.
Before entering the collegiate swimming coaching level, Cassano spent four years as a strength and conditioning coach with UPMC Sports Performance under the direction of one of the top sports performance experts who has worked with many Division I athletes and professionals.
Cassano graduated from Grove City College in 2015 as a decorated student-athlete with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science.
Ranked 10th in NCAA Division III, she earned All-American consideration four times, was a four-year letterwinner, four-year all-conference and President’s Athletic Conference (PAC) champion in the 100 and 200 backstroke and two-time . PAC 200 IM Champion. She broke school records in the 100 and 200 backstroke, contributed to the school record in the 400 medley relay, as well as pool records for the 200 freestyle and medley relays.
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