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25-Time Big West Conference Coach of the Year
In his 32 seasons at the helm of the UC Santa Barbara swimming program, Gregg Wilson has posted a dual meet record of 316-223-1 (184-120 with the men and 132-103-1 with the women). Even more impressive, his squads have collected 37 Big West Conference Championships, 25 men's titles and 12 women's team titles. The Gaucho men won 23 consecutive titles from 1979-2001, with Wilson leading the way in all but one year (Bernie Stenson coached the team in 1984).
Last season, Wilson was named both the men's and women's Big West Conference Coach of the Year after leading both teams to the conference crown.
The 2007-08 season was one of the most successful in school history. The men's team went 8-1 in dual meet action and ended the season ranked 25th by the College Swimming Coaches Association. The Gaucho men set four school records, three Big West Championship meet records and one conference record. They picked up eight Big West meet individual event titles and four relay titles.
It was the women's team that stole the show, however. The Gaucho women finished the season with a 25th place finish at the 2008 NCAA Division I Championships and Anne Marie May captured third-place in the 50 freestyle at the meet earning All-American accolades, the first Gaucho woman to do so since 1990. Four additional women earned Honorable Mention All-American status.
The women captured their third consecutive Big West title in 2008. UCSB collected six individual event and four relay titles at the BWC Championship and also set four meet records. May picked up Big West Swimmer of the Year honors while Sara Nicponski was named Freshman Swimmer of the Year. For the season, they set nine school records and five conference records.
The Gauchos' success during the spring carried over into the summer season. Thirteen UCSB swimmers qualified for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials - as did alumni Jason Lezak and Pat Cary - and one swam at the Canadian Olympic Trials.
Following Olympic Trials, several UCSB swimmers also competed at the U.S. Open where current team captain Katy Freeman qualified for the 2009 World University Games roster.
During the 2006-07 season, Wilson led the Gaucho women to their 11th Big West team title for which he earned his 10th conference Women's Coach of the Year award. He has earned Big West Men's Coach of the Year honors on 13 occasions bringing his total to 23 such awards.
In addition to the women's conference title in 2006-07, Anne Marie May was named the Big West Women's Freshman Swimmer of the Year after winning two individual conference titles and two relay titles. On the men's side Scott Vogelgesang was picked as the Men's Freshman Swimmer of the Year.
In 2007, Wilson also coached senior captain Pat Cary to Mid-Major Swimmer of the Year honors as the men's team took 33rd place at the 2007 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships behind an All-American performance by Cary in the 200 butterfly.
Not just a dominating program at the conference level, Wilson's teams have also excelled at the national level. His men's teams have been ranked as high as 16th nationally and several of his swimmers over the years have advanced to the NCAA Championships. In fact, the men's team has turned in 39 All-American performances under Wilson. Among the All-Americans he has coached are Olympic gold medalists Richard Schroeder, Jason Lezak (the current American record holder in the 100 meter freestyle), 50-meter freestyle world record holder Bruce Stahl (the first person to ever hold this world record) and distance ace Carl Larsen.
Wilson took the reigns of the Gaucho women's program during the 1984-85 season and immediately led them to a Big West Championship. The women have won eleven Big West Championships and have come in second nine times with Wilson at the helm. As conference champs, the UCSB women have sent 22 swimmers to the NCAA Championships and the women's program boasts 21 All-American performances under Wilson's tutelage.
The 1989 women's team finished 17th at the NCAA Championship meet, scoring 50 points and producing All-American performances in both the 200 and 800 freestyle relay events. The seventh place finish in the 200 free relay was the highest ever by any UCSB team. Kim Bryson became UCSB's first, and only, four-year NCAA All-American.
In 1990, four Gauchos earned All-American honors, including Bryson who collected her fifth overall accolade.
A native of Walnut Creek, Calif., Wilson is a graduate of Las Lomas High School. He was an All-American student-athlete at Diablo Valley Junior College, where he competed in both swimming and water polo before transferring to Cal. While at Cal, Wilson participated in both sports. He earned his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1972 and received a master's degree in physical education in 1975.
