Upcoming Event: Men's Swimming & Diving versus Alumni Meet on October 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM
10:00 AM
Men's Swimming & Diving
vs Alumni Meet
Men's Swimming & Diving
Dykstra, Joe
Joe Dykstra
- Title:
- Head Coach of Swimming and Diving
- Email:
- jdykstra@huntsman.utah.edu
- Phone:
- 801-230-2761
Joe Dykstra is entering his ninth season as the head coach of the Utah swimming and diving program in 2021-22.
Last season, Dykstra guided the 200 medley relay team of Andrew Britton, Cooper DeRyk, Andrei Ungur and Finn O'Haimhirgin to a second-team All-American performance at the 2021 NCAA Championships. The group broke the school record, which they had already done in the season, with a school-best time of 1:24.15 to finish 15th at nationals. He also saw DeRyk become a second-team All-American in the 50 free to highlight the season. Despite the challenges that Utah encountered during the shortened season, the Utes finished fourth in the men's standings at the Pac-12 Championships and the women finished fifth, which is the best finish since joining the conference.
During the 2017-18 season, Utah broke a pair of relay records on the men's side as Dykstra sent his largest Ute contingent to the NCAA Championships. In the 200 medley Paul Ungur, Jack Burton, Ben Scott and Rodolfo Moreira swam a time of 1:24.46 in the morning's preliminaries. In the finals, they finished with a time of 1:24.59 to become the first Utah relay team to earn All-American status since 1975.
In the 200 free relay, Ungur, Moreira, Liam O'Haimhirgin and Austin Phillips finished with a time of 1:17.94 to set a new program standard. Ungur was also a standout at the Pac-12 Championships, capturing the 100 back, setting a new school record and becoming the first individual medalist at the conference event (third in program history).
Ungur, Burton, Scott and O'Haimhirgin would also smash the school record in the 400 medley relay. and for the second year in a row, Scott broke the school record in the 200 fly at the annual Pac-12 event.
On the women's side, Jordan Anderson reached the NCAA Championships for the first time, competing in the 400 IM and 200 fly. She set the school record in the 400 IM at the Pac-12 Championships while teammate Sarah Lott did the same in the 200 back.
Robertson's time of 2:10.33 in the 200 breast tied for 34th in the nation and was a top-10 time in Pac-12 competition. She placed 34th in the 200 breast at the 2016 NCAA's with a time of 2:11.79.
The three other competitors were all men making their first trips to the event, Ungur swam in the 100 back as well as the 50 free. In the 100 back, he qualified with his time of 45.69, which he set at the Pac-12 Championships earlier this month. His time was the fourth fastest in the Pac-12 and the 18th fastest in the nation.
Daniel McArthur also swam in the 100 and 200 back. His time of 1:41.66 in the 200 back ranked in the top 30 for the NCAA and was an NCAA 'B' cut consideration time.
Joining McArthur in the 200 back was Austin Phillips. He also competed in the 200 free and 200 IM. His time of 1:34.20, which he set at the 2017 Pac-12 Championships, ranked in the top-10 in Pac-12 competition.
On the women's side, Colleou achieved a time of 2:10.61 in the 200 breast and placed sixth at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships after setting the Utah mark at the 2014 NCAA Championships (2:08.35). Giuliana Gigliotti took seventh in the 50 free at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships, where she recorded her personal-best and Utah's second-fastest mark all-time of 22.28.
The Utes had four All-Americans, set 29 school records, and had 14 NCAA top 50 times during Dykstra's first year. Utah was ranked in the top 25 throughout the season with both teams finishing in the top 35 at the NCAA Championships. The Utah men started out the season with an upset win over 12th-ranked Arizona.
Highlights from Dykstra's inaugural year include Kersten Merry becoming the first female diver in Utah history to earn All-America honors at NCAA's. She finished ninth on platform. Also earning All-America honors was Traycie Swartz in the 100 free (11th), Colleou in the 200 breast (9th) and Purss on the one-meter (9th). Utah had nine individual qualifiers and eight relay-only qualifiers sent to the NCAA Championships in 2013-14.
At the Pac-12 Championships, Soedel (100 free) and Kiraly (1,650 free) won the first-ever Pac-12 men's swimming titles in school history. Soedel's season-best time in the 100 free of 41.97 was the fourth best in the country in the event this season. Kiraly broke a 25-year old school record in the 200 fly. For the women, Colleou was the top collegiate competitor in the 200 breast event at the US Short Course Nationals, finishing third.
Dykstra, a two-time Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, spent seven years as the head women's coach at North Texas before coming to Utah. Prior to North Texas he spent six years as the associate head men's and women's coach at Washington from 2001-06. He was also a four-year swimmer for the Huskies.
Dykstra guided North Texas to a runner-up finish at the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championships, the best finish in school history earning co-Coach of the Year honors. Kimmy Phillips became the first swimmer in North Texas' 15-year history to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 2013. The Mean Green achieved a No. 4 final ranking in the 2013 CollegeSwimming.com mid-major poll, the highest ranking in school history. Dykstra, who was also the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2008, led the program to four consecutive third-place finishes from 2009-12. The Mean Green set several school records during his tenure at the school.
In the classroom, North Texas received College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America status every semester from 2007-12. The team posted a 3.62 team GPA in the fall of 2012, the highest among all NCAA Division I swimming and diving teams.
As an associate head coach at Washington, Dykstra helped the Huskies to 19th and 25th-place finishes at the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Championships.
In 1999 and 2000, Dykstra served as a graduate assistant coach at Tennessee. The Volunteers finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships both years, during which time he also assisted in coaching an Olympic gold medal winner and a world record holder.
Last season, Dykstra guided the 200 medley relay team of Andrew Britton, Cooper DeRyk, Andrei Ungur and Finn O'Haimhirgin to a second-team All-American performance at the 2021 NCAA Championships. The group broke the school record, which they had already done in the season, with a school-best time of 1:24.15 to finish 15th at nationals. He also saw DeRyk become a second-team All-American in the 50 free to highlight the season. Despite the challenges that Utah encountered during the shortened season, the Utes finished fourth in the men's standings at the Pac-12 Championships and the women finished fifth, which is the best finish since joining the conference.
During the 2017-18 season, Utah broke a pair of relay records on the men's side as Dykstra sent his largest Ute contingent to the NCAA Championships. In the 200 medley Paul Ungur, Jack Burton, Ben Scott and Rodolfo Moreira swam a time of 1:24.46 in the morning's preliminaries. In the finals, they finished with a time of 1:24.59 to become the first Utah relay team to earn All-American status since 1975.
In the 200 free relay, Ungur, Moreira, Liam O'Haimhirgin and Austin Phillips finished with a time of 1:17.94 to set a new program standard. Ungur was also a standout at the Pac-12 Championships, capturing the 100 back, setting a new school record and becoming the first individual medalist at the conference event (third in program history).
Ungur, Burton, Scott and O'Haimhirgin would also smash the school record in the 400 medley relay. and for the second year in a row, Scott broke the school record in the 200 fly at the annual Pac-12 event.
On the women's side, Jordan Anderson reached the NCAA Championships for the first time, competing in the 400 IM and 200 fly. She set the school record in the 400 IM at the Pac-12 Championships while teammate Sarah Lott did the same in the 200 back.
The Utah women had a 3.46 grade point average during the 2018 spring semester after recording a 3.49 GPA in the fall of 2017, its highest mark since 2010. This was the 11th-straight semester the Utes earned a team academic award from the CSCAA. Utah had seven CSCAA Scholar All-Americans and placed 14 swimmers on the Pac-12 All-Academic Teams
The Utah men's team had a 3.11 grade point average, ranking third among Pac-12 schools. The Utes had six student-athletes named to the Pac-12 All-Academic First Team in 2018, most in the conference. It also placed a program record 12 student-athletes on the CSCAA Scholar All-American team.
Dykstra is also heavily involved with the NCAA Swimming & Diving Committee and is serving as the committee chair.
In 2017, Stina Colleou made her fourth trip to the NCAA Championships, while Genny Robertson made it for a second straight season.
Robertson's time of 2:10.33 in the 200 breast tied for 34th in the nation and was a top-10 time in Pac-12 competition. She placed 34th in the 200 breast at the 2016 NCAA's with a time of 2:11.79.
The three other competitors were all men making their first trips to the event, Ungur swam in the 100 back as well as the 50 free. In the 100 back, he qualified with his time of 45.69, which he set at the Pac-12 Championships earlier this month. His time was the fourth fastest in the Pac-12 and the 18th fastest in the nation.
Daniel McArthur also swam in the 100 and 200 back. His time of 1:41.66 in the 200 back ranked in the top 30 for the NCAA and was an NCAA 'B' cut consideration time.
Joining McArthur in the 200 back was Austin Phillips. He also competed in the 200 free and 200 IM. His time of 1:34.20, which he set at the 2017 Pac-12 Championships, ranked in the top-10 in Pac-12 competition.
Utah concluded another solid year in 2016 with a pair of All-American nods and then sent eight swimmers and two divers to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, two swimmers to the Canadian Olympic Team Trials and two swimmers to the European Aquatics Championships.
Bence Kiraly along with divers Purss and Jacob Crayne competed at the NCAA Championships. Kiraly finished 12th during the prelims in the 500 free with a time of 4:15.77, just two-hundredths of a second off his time at the Pac-12 Championships. In the finals, he placed 14th overall with a time of 4:16.74.
Kiraly also placed 30th in the 200 free with a time of 1:35.45. His best time,1:34.65 was .41 seconds off of the school record and ranked seventh in the Pac-12. Kiraly finished with 16 total wins in eight different events
In 2015, the Utes sent 11 student-athletes to the NCAA Championships. The men's side finished 22nd with 40.5 points, the third-best finish (1966, 15th) and the highest point total in Utah school history.
On the women's side, Colleou achieved a time of 2:10.61 in the 200 breast and placed sixth at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships after setting the Utah mark at the 2014 NCAA Championships (2:08.35). Giuliana Gigliotti took seventh in the 50 free at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships, where she recorded her personal-best and Utah's second-fastest mark all-time of 22.28.
The Utes had four All-Americans, set 29 school records, and had 14 NCAA top 50 times during Dykstra's first year. Utah was ranked in the top 25 throughout the season with both teams finishing in the top 35 at the NCAA Championships. The Utah men started out the season with an upset win over 12th-ranked Arizona.
Highlights from Dykstra's inaugural year include Kersten Merry becoming the first female diver in Utah history to earn All-America honors at NCAA's. She finished ninth on platform. Also earning All-America honors was Traycie Swartz in the 100 free (11th), Colleou in the 200 breast (9th) and Purss on the one-meter (9th). Utah had nine individual qualifiers and eight relay-only qualifiers sent to the NCAA Championships in 2013-14.
At the Pac-12 Championships, Soedel (100 free) and Kiraly (1,650 free) won the first-ever Pac-12 men's swimming titles in school history. Soedel's season-best time in the 100 free of 41.97 was the fourth best in the country in the event this season. Kiraly broke a 25-year old school record in the 200 fly. For the women, Colleou was the top collegiate competitor in the 200 breast event at the US Short Course Nationals, finishing third.
Dykstra, a two-time Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, spent seven years as the head women's coach at North Texas before coming to Utah. Prior to North Texas he spent six years as the associate head men's and women's coach at Washington from 2001-06. He was also a four-year swimmer for the Huskies.
Dykstra guided North Texas to a runner-up finish at the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championships, the best finish in school history earning co-Coach of the Year honors. Kimmy Phillips became the first swimmer in North Texas' 15-year history to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 2013. The Mean Green achieved a No. 4 final ranking in the 2013 CollegeSwimming.com mid-major poll, the highest ranking in school history. Dykstra, who was also the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2008, led the program to four consecutive third-place finishes from 2009-12. The Mean Green set several school records during his tenure at the school.
In the classroom, North Texas received College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America status every semester from 2007-12. The team posted a 3.62 team GPA in the fall of 2012, the highest among all NCAA Division I swimming and diving teams.
As an associate head coach at Washington, Dykstra helped the Huskies to 19th and 25th-place finishes at the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Championships.
In 1999 and 2000, Dykstra served as a graduate assistant coach at Tennessee. The Volunteers finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships both years, during which time he also assisted in coaching an Olympic gold medal winner and a world record holder.
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