Coach Shawn King is in his first season as the head coach of the Utah Tech Trailblazers.
Coach Shawn has spent the last two seasons as the distance coach and men's recruiting coordinator at BYU.
In the 2022-2023 season, Coach Shawn helped lead the BYU Men’s team to its 3rd consecutive MPSF Championship, coaching senior standout Brad Prolo to MPSF Male Athlete of the Year and NCAA qualification in the 200 Butterfly. Coach Shawn furthered the development of the BYU distance program, adding new BYU all-time top 5 performances for men and women in the 200 Free, 500 Free, and 1650.
In the 2021-2022 season, Coach Shawn helped coach the BYU Men's team to their 2nd consecutive MPSF conference championship, leading a resurgent BYU distance program to their highest finishes in the last 10 years. Successes from the season include 3 of the top 5 finishes in the women's 1650 at the MPSF Conference Championships and new BYU team records for the men's 500, 1000, and 1650 Freestyle. Coach Shawn coached freshman standout Tanner Nelson to MPSF Freshman of the year honors, and NCAA qualification in the 400 IM.
Prior to BYU, Coach Shawn was the assistant coach of the Dixie State women’s swimming distance program for the 2020-2021 season. Working with athletes coming through the pandemic and helping the DSU Women’s team transition to Division I, Coach Shawn guided the team's distance swimmers to life best and collegiate best times.
Coach Shawn has coached athletes from prep levels to the national level with USA Swimming while working with clubs in Utah, Idaho, Texas, Illinois, and Florida. His athletes' accomplishments include multiple Utah state record holders, U.S. national qualifiers, and Division I and Division II collegiate athletes. Outside of club swimming, Coach Shawn has extensive high school experience across the country. Most recently, he served as head coach for Desert Hills high school, leading his teams to three consecutive Men's championships and back-to-back Women's 4A State titles, being named UHSAA Coach of the Year three times. Coach Shawn was voted the NFHS Utah High school coach of the year in 2019, following a season where the Desert Hills Men's relays broke all three 4A relay records and the overall Utah records in the 200 Free and 400 Free relays and an All -American selection in the 200 Free Relay.
Coach Shawn also previously served as the master’s coach for a group of highly motivated 18 and over athletes who formed the SUSA Masters team at Sand Hollow, now the Trailblazer Masters at Utah Tech. Coach Shawn's masters have won multiple Huntsman World Senior Games titles, placed in the top 10 at the USMS Spring Nationals, and have placed on the annual Top 10 list for US Masters swimming.
Coach Shawn earned his bachelor's degree in Psychology from Utah Tech University in 2014 and his master's degree in Health Psychology from Grand Canyon University in 2022.
Shawn, his wife, Heather, and their four young boys are excited to be in southern Utah and are grateful to be part of the Trailblazer family.
