The St. Catherine University swimming and diving team has established itself as one of the most consistent teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). This upcoming season, the team looks to continue this success under the guidance of Justin Zook, who has been named the next head coach of the program Athletic Director Eric Stacey announced on June 28.
"I am very pleased to welcome Justin to St. Kate's," Stacey said. "His coaching philosophy and work ethic will be a perfect fit for our athletic department and the University. I am confident he will build on the team's success and be a positive leader for our student-athletes."
Zook has a long, successful history both in the pool and on the deck. The Plymouth, Minnesota native is a three-time Paralympic gold medalist and three-time world champion in the 100 meter backstroke. Zook won the gold medal in the S10 class at the 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, and 2012 London Olympics and was world champion in the same class in 2002, 2006, and 2013. He also holds the world record in the 100 meter backstroke (1:00.01) and is the former world record holder for the 200 meter backstroke in the S10 class.
After retiring from professional swimming, Zook found success as a coach at multiple levels. Prior to St. Kate's, Zook was the head coach at Robbinsdale-Armstrong High School in Plymouth, Minnesota, where he was named 2014 and 2015 5AA Boy's and Girl's Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year. Zook lead the Falcons boys team to its first state appearance in seven years in 2014, while girls had their best finish at the state meet in program history. The Falcons boys and girls swim teams also broke a combined six school records in Zook's first year and three swimmers from the girls teams received scholarships to swim at Division I institutions.
Zook's other experiences include coaching youth swimmers in Miami, Florida, serving as a manager for the Veteran Affairs Paralympic Training Allowance Program, and mentoring student-athletes at Florida Atlantic University.
Zook attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts where he was three-time Academic All-Conference honoree and two-time Second Team All-Conference selection in swimming. Zook graduated Cum Laude from Springfield with a degree in Sports Management and earned a Master's degree in Sport Business from Florida Atlantic University.
