University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Katie Kasprzak Named Director of Swimming & Diving As Pitt Announces New Leadership Model For Program
5/12/2026 12:13:00 PM | Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming, Men's Swimming
PITTSBURGH – Katie Kasprzak has been named as the Director of Swimming & Diving, University of Pittsburgh Director of Athletics Allen Greene announced today along with a strategic restructuring of the program.
"Katie has established herself as one of the premier coaches in the country, and what sets her apart goes well beyond the technical side of the sport," Greene said. "She is a strategic thinker and a culture builder. She is deeply invested in the total development of our student-athletes academically, athletically and personally. That speaks to the kind of leader and mentor she is, and that is exactly the profile we wanted leading this program. She is a genuine team player and a respected partner throughout our athletics department.
"This restructuring is a deliberate and thoughtful response to the evolving realities of college athletics and the responsibilities placed on coaches today that go well beyond the pool. This role gives Katie the opportunity to apply her expertise and impact across our entire swimming & diving program, and the model we are building around her is one we believe will set a new standard for how programs like ours can operate and compete."
In this new leadership model designed to elevate program operations, coaching and student-athlete development, Kasprzak will serve as the program's leader, with full responsibility for the direction, culture and success of Pitt Swimming & Diving. Under her leadership, Pitt will hire dedicated head coaches for both swimming and diving, an innovative model that pairs her program-wide vision with specialized coaching expertise at each discipline's highest level. Kasprzak will immediately lead national searches to identify both head coaches and will serve as their mentor and developer, an aspect of the role that reflects both her strengths and Pitt's broader commitment to staff development. As Director of Swimming & Diving, she will also play a central role in deepening relationships with alumni and donors, connecting the program's past to its future and building the philanthropic foundation for long-term growth.
"I am incredibly grateful to Allen Greene, Blaire Ford and the University of Pittsburgh for this opportunity," Kasprzak said. "This program means a great deal to me, and I'm fully committed to building on the strong foundation we have in place. While I'll continue some coaching responsibilities with diving, this role allows us to better support our student-athletes, coaches, alumni, and donors. My number one priority will be leading a national search for head swimming and head diving coaches who align with our vision and the profile our student-athletes helped define. This structure creates the capacity to lead, mentor, and support at a level the program hasn't had before. I'm excited to build an environment where coaches can focus on coaching and developing meaningful relationships with our athletes, and I trust that under this new structure, the best is still ahead of Pitt."
Kasprzak, has served as the program's diving coach since 2017, building the diving program into one of the ACC's most respected. In nine seasons, Kasprzak has coached 17 divers to a combined 32 NCAA Championship qualifications, earned the 2024 ACC Men's Diving Coach of the Year award, and in doing so became the first female coach to earn an ACC Coach of the Year accolade in either men's or women's swimming and diving. She also coached Dylan Reed who became the first member of the Pitt diving program to earn an invitation to Team USA, and has coached four divers on the Pitt Varsity Walk of Fame: Dylan Reed, Meme Sharp, Cameron Cash and Amy Read.
One of the defining characteristics of Kasprzak's tenure has been her ability to recruit and rapidly develop divers. In three straight seasons (2023-25), a true freshman scored for Pitt in multiple events at the ACC Championships. Most recently, Cassandra Guerrera qualified for the NCAA Championships just three years after her first career diving competition. Kasprzak has also shown a consistent ability to develop divers to compete at the international level, most recently guiding Mariana Osorio Mendoza to a bronze medal at the 2025 Junior World Championships, the first world medal ever won by a Colombian female diver.
In 2025-26, Pitt Swimming & Diving saw success across the program. Pitt sent a program-record 12 divers to the NCAA Zone Championships, and five advanced to the NCAA Championships, led by Cash becoming the first Pitt diver to qualify in every possible event in all four years of his career. At the ACC Championships, Jess Vega and Osorio Mendoza finished seventh and ninth on platform, and Osorio Mendoza became the first Panther to reach the 1-meter final since 2016.
In 2023-24, Kasprzak guided Cash to NCAA All-American honors and two ACC titles while sending four male divers to the NCAA Championships. Both Cash and Reed qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. In 2022-23, 11 Pitt divers qualified for a combined 35 events at NCAA Diving Zones, then a program record, and Reed, who served as SAAC president, went on to earn an invitation to Team USA, the first in program history. During the 2021-22 season, Reed became the first Pitt diver to make four consecutive NCAA Championship appearances.
Before joining Pitt, Kasprzak served as head coach of the Duke Diving Club in Durham, N.C., where she guided the program to more than 10 national youth titles and sent eight divers on to college scholarships at programs including Texas, Ohio State, Indiana and Purdue. USA Diving recognized the Duke Diving Club as its most improved club in the country in 2014.
Kasprzak also brings international experience to the role. She served as the diving technical operations manager for the organizing committee of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, overseeing the execution of diving events at the Games of the XXX Olympiad in accordance with international rules and regulations.
A native of Harpenden, England, Kasprzak began diving at age five after being introduced to the sport by her parents, Brian and Jackie—both international diving coaches and judges—and went on to win numerous youth national titles in the United Kingdom before retiring from competition at 17. She holds a 2005 degree in sports science and physiology from Leeds University and is a USA Diving-certified coach. She also served in aquatics administration with the British Amateur Swimming Association from 2007 to 2011.
Kasprzak lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, Alex Kasprzak, and their daughters, Elva and Francesca.
