Cal Looks Inside for Assistant, Tabs Lewis to Bolster Recruiting Further

Kristen Lewis has been hired as the assistant coach for the California women's swimming program, Golden Bears head coach Teri McKeever announced today. Lewis, who had worked for the Cal Athletic Department in an administrative capacity for the past two years, is a former UCLA All-American who earned a master's degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education last spring.  

Also an Academic All-American, Lewis majored in history and was an NCAA postgraduate scholar. A 2005 graduate of UCLA, Lewis was an undergraduate assistant coach for her alma mater in the 2004-05 season.

"Kristen's career at UCLA is a great example of the kind of athletic and academic success that is important to our program," McKeever said. "She represents someone who really took advantage of her opportunities and made the most of them."

Lewis ended her swimming career at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in Long Beach, Calif., where she was a semifinalist in the 100- (1:01.35) and 200-meter (2:16.12) butterflies.

"She's had different roles in our recent success," McKeever said. "This is a natural progression. I'm excited about her spearheading our recruiting efforts, because she's got a wonderful personality and will be able to articulate what Cal, and in particular our program, has to offer."

Lewis replaces Whitney Hite who left to become Washington University's head coach and spearheaded much of Cal's recruiting efforts over the past few years.  While he has reinvigorated UW's recruiting, Cal managed to succeed without him this past season.  While Hite secured a top-ten class on the womens side, the Bears were able to snag seven top-50 recruits en route to the second-best incoming class in the nation.