Swimming and Diving Coaching Staff
Head Coach Jen Wallace
Jen
Wallace is set to begin her seventh year at the helm of the Penn State
Behrend men's and women's swimming and diving programs. Both teams
continue to excel by breaking records and raising the bar for future
Behrend Lions.
In dominating fashion last year, Penn State Behrend captured its
third straight AMCC Swimming and Diving Championship. Behrend's
roster peppered the All-AMCC squads and have left no doubt to whom
the rest of league is continuing to chase. Then Wallace, a two-time
AMCC Coach of the Year in 2006-07 and 2007-08, guided five athletes
to the ECAC Championships in Boston, MA.
The 2006-2007 marked the inaugural season for AMCC swimming and diving championships. The Behrend women won easily beating the second place finishers 300 to 187 and on the men’s side were victories by a 337 to 129 margin. Several Behrend athletes earned first and second team All-conference selections. The following season featured the same results as Behrend won another league title in 2007-08 and the Behrend Lions sent 15 swimmers and divers to the ECAC Championships.
Wallace was a standout swimmer at the University of Pittsburgh. She was a NCAA qualifier in the 500 and 1650 freestyle. Wallace's accolades include being named the team's most improved swimmer as a sophomore, a Big East Scholar Athlete, and the University's Bell Atlantic Scholar. Wallace earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Pittsburgh in 1999. She then completed her master's degree in education the following year.
Wallace was a staff member at the Nike Swim Camp at Pittsburgh, and was an assistant at Franklin Regional High School during the 1999-00 season. Wallace also serves the Behrend Lions as the aquatics director and a lecturer in the health and physical education
E-mail Head Coach Jen Wallace: jns11@psu.edu
Assistant Coach Joe Tristan
Tristan will begin his seventh season as the assistant swimming and diving coach.
From 1998-2000, Tristan was the assistant coach for Eastern Michigan University where he was part of the 2000 Mid-American Conference championship team. While at EMU, Tristan worked mainly with the middle distance program and helped develop multiple conference champions.
From 1998-2000 Tristan was ranked in the FINA Top 20 and the top 100 in the World in the 200 meter and 100 meter freestyle events. He currently is EMU’s record holder in the 800 freestyle relay.
Tristan is the head coach of the men’s and women’s water polo teams and instructs in the health and physical education department.
Assistant Coach Gordy Schmidt
Schmidt
enters his eighth season as an assistant to the Penn State Behrend
men's and women's swimming and diving teams.
He has impacted the
Behrend program with the blue and white earning AMCC First Team
All-Conference men’s and women’s divers for three straight seasons.
Prior to coaching the Behrend Lions he spent five years at Gannon
University.
Schmidt competed in YMCA Masters Swimming and Diving, winning three National Titles in one meter and three meter diving, along with gaining All-American honors. He has worked as a swim coach at the Glenwood YMCA, McDowell High School, Villa Maria, and Cathedral Prep. During his coaching career he has trained numerous Pennsylvania high school District 10 winners, eight YMCA National Diving Teams, a National YMCA 1M & 3M performer, and at Gannon he coached a GLEAC Conference 3M winner.
Schmidt received his degree in AeroSpace Engineering from Penn State. Currently he is a Pennsylvania licensed funeral director.