Matthew Kinney was named the University Athletic Association Coach of the Year for men's swimming and diving after leading the team to a second-place finish at the championship meet in 2013. Kinney's team had a strong performance at the championships as two individuals won events and nine were honored with top-three finishes. The depth of the team is what made the difference as the distance freestyle events and the 200-yard backstroke saw Tartans finish in three of the top nine places.
The second-place finish at the UAA Championships in 2013 was the fifth occurance for Kinney during his eight-year tenure as the coach of the Tartans. In addition, eight individuals and three relays raced to NCAA provisional qualifying marks in one of the fastest years the sport has seen in recent time.
Most recently, four men competed at the 2015 NCAA Championships, earning All-America distinction as part of the 200-yard medley relay. That relay also set the school record while two individual records got toppled. The 2014 team set three school records and had 12 men and three relays meet qualifying standards, as the group finished fourth at the UAA Championships.
There was much to talk about individually for the Tartans in 2012 as the men's team had four athletes compete at the NCAA Championships. The 400-yard medley relay team qualified for nationals and finished as Honorable Mention All-America while junior Dan Glaser-Garbrick also earned Honorable Mention All-America in the 400-yard IM after two years of finishing as an All-American in the 200-yard butterfly. Senior Matt Stanton earned academic honors from CoSIDA and freshman Anton Razanav won the 200-yard backstroke at the UAA meet while both were on the 400-yard medley relay that competed at the NCAA championships.
The 2011 season saw six women make the NCAA Championships field as the 800-yard freestyle relay team became the first relay in school history to earn All-America status with a 13th-place finish. Two men also competed at the championships with one earning All-America honors for the second-straight year. This all followed the 2010 season when all eight NCAA competitors earned All-America status, while 15 others made qualifying marks.
That 2010 season was one of the best for the men's program as all seven athletes who competed at the NCAA Championships earned All-America or All-America Honorable Mention honors. Five of those athletes earned their first-ever award as the team finished 15th in the nation. The team also finished second at the UAA meet for the third year and set two school records.
In 2008-09, the team broke five school records and finished second at the UAA Championships for the second straight year. This followed Kinney’s first year in charge when one school record was broken, 13 men made qualifying marks for NCAA's, four swam to All-America Honorable Mention accolades and the team finished second at the UAA meet for the first time since 2005.
Overall, Kinney has mentored 16 Carnegie Mellon male athletes to 27 All-America honors while he and his assistants were named UAA Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year in 2009, 2010 and 2013. The athletes have also set and re-set nine individual and three relay school records under Kinney's leadership.
Prior to the 2007-2008 season, Kinney spent 12 years as the head men's and women's swimming coach at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Throughout his 12 year tenure as head coach at Mary Washington, Kinney led the men's and women's teams to an impressive combined dual mark of 182-59 and a total of 22 combined Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) titles, including 12 straight for the women’s program. During Mary Washington’s conference title run he was named CAC Coach of the Year 12 times, seven with the women's program and five with the men. Kinney has brought tremendous coaching experience to Carnegie Mellon University, as he coached 88 All-America performers at UMW.
A native of Canton, Ohio, Kinney is a 1993 graduate of Kenyon College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. While a student-athlete at Kenyon he was a three-time All-America athlete for the Lords and was part of three NCAA Division III National Championship teams. He was also selected captain his senior season. Following his undergraduate work, Kinney went on to Western Illinois University, where he earned a Master of Science degree in sports management while assisting with the swimming program.
