Davidson College Athletics Director Jim Murphy today announced the hiring of John Young as head coach for the Wildcat swimming and diving program. Young replaces Tim Kelly who has taken a position at the prestigious CurlBurke swim program.

"I will miss Davidson as it is a great place but I am excited about the challenges here at Curl-Burke," says Kelly, "John Young is a great fit for the program and a lot of people are excited about what he will bring to the program."

"John has a keen understanding of a highly competitive academic and athletic environment. His background and experience make him a great fit for Davidson," Murphy commented.

During the past three years, Young served as assistant swimming coach at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he helped lead the program to four NCAA Division III team championships. During his tenure at Kenyon, he coached 23 individual and 20 relay national event champions, including Division III record setters in four individual and two relay events. Young comes to Davidson with an extensive instructional background, as well as experience recruiting student-athletes, and designing and implementing training programs.

A 1997 graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., Young collected four Division III national championships as a student-athlete and was named NECAC Division III Male Athlete of the Year as a senior. The team captain and two-time Division III New England Conference Swimmer of the Year also earned All-America honors 16 times and Honorable Mention All-America recognition 10 times. Young’s impressive collegiate career is also marked by seven NEC event records, eight Williams College records and 22 NEC titles.

Coach Young is a member of the American Swim Coaches Association and the College Swim Coaches Association of America.