BYU head diving coach Keith Russell announced that he will be retiring at the end of the 2014-15 season after 23 years of leading the Cougar divers.
Russell was honored following a meet against Denver last Saturday, his last home meet as the head coach.
“To be here has been a dream come true,” Russell said. “My goal was to raise a family and to be able to do that right here, under these circumstances with the support and help from the administration and all the head coaches, Tim Powers and John Brooks. It’s been such a wonderful ride.”
Russell took over as the head coach in 1992, and BYU divers immediately started benefiting from his coaching. During his rookie season, two of his divers, Vanessa Thelin and Valerie Blau, earned All-America status. Two seasons later, Thelin won the 1994 NCAA national title on the 1-meter under Russell’s guidance.
Over the course of his career, he earned 14 Mountain West Conference Diving Coach of the Year awards, and two of his former divers competed for the United States in the 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens, Greece. Russell served as a diving judge in the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing, China.
Prior to serving an LDS mission to Chile, Russell won the 1968 NCAA 3-meter diving national championship at Arizona State and placed fourth at the Olympic Games in Mexico City. Russell transferred to BYU upon returning from Chile and won All-American diving honors in 1972.
A native of Mesa, Arizona, he was inducted into the Mesa City Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and into the BYU Hall of Fame a year later in 1994.
Russell married Marsha Lofgreen, and the couple has six children.
Zach Brady is a student at BYU and current BYU swimming & diving SID. TWITTER: @Zachbrady7 EMAIL: Zachbrady7@gmail.com.