DENTON, Texas (6/06/08) The North Texas swimming and diving program added world-class expertise to its staff with the hiring of Jim Pyrch as the team’s diving coach.
A two-time National Diving Coach of the Year (1987, 1993), Pyrch has extensive international coaching experience with the US National Diving team, and spent nearly a quarter of a century as the diving coach at Yale.
“I am so excited that Jim has decided to join our staff and bring his expertise to North Texas,” said North Texas head coach Joe Dykstra. “He is one of the most respected diving coaches in the country and his vast experience at the collegiate level and in international competitions will be an immediate recruiting asset for our program. He is excited about the direction we’ve got our program headed in, and will greatly help us to continue moving up the conference and national rankings.”
Pyrch has produced NCAA All-Americans at the Division I, II and III level, and had the honor of coaching with the US National Diving team in competitions in East Germany, the Soviet Union and China in the summer of 1990. In 1991, he served as head diving coach for the United States at the World Age Group Championships in Sweden.
Boasting an extensive list of school and conference record holders, as well as conference and national champions, Pyrch has become a nationally-respected coach at the collegiate and international stages. He coached at Fairfield College and the University of Northern Iowa prior to serving at Yale from 1982-2005. Pyrch spent the last three seasons at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.
Pyrch earned All-American honors while diving at Southern Connecticut State from 1972-76. He and his wife, Krissa, have two children.
