Chris Lindauer
Head Coach
Chris Lindauer enters his first season as Paul A. Violich Director of Women’s Swimming, becoming the eighth head coach in program history.
Lindauer has a proven track record of elevating programs to new heights, coaching 10 individual national champions, 46 women’s NCAA All-Americans and 49 men’s NCAA All-Americans during his 15-year coaching career.
He has Olympic-level coaching pedigree, mentoring a pair of gold medalists and 13 Olympic qualifiers, in addition to serving on the USA National Team coaching staff from 2018-20.
Lindauer moved to Stanford after a three-year stint leading the Notre Dame swimming and diving programs. During his time in South Bend, he led the men’s program to back-to-back historic NCAA finishes, including a program-best 10th place in 2024.
His work with the men’s program included coaching 2024 ACC Swimmer of the Year Chris Giuliano and 2023 ACC Freshman of the Year Tommy Janton, a tandem that combined for five ACC titles and 14 All-America honors.
On the women’s side, Lindauer coached First Team All-ACC honorees Madelyn Christman (200 back) and Maggie Graves (1650 free) in 2024.
Lindauer’s success with the Fighting Irish earned him his first Olympic coaching role, serving as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games. In Paris, Lindauer worked directly with Guiliano as he turned in a World record-breaking performance en route to Olympic Gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay, along with a silver medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Prior to Notre Dame, Lindauer spent 13 seasons at Louisville, most recently serving as associate head coach. During his tenure, Lindauer coached numerous Olympians and 12 NCAA champions, with his student-athletes earning more than 100 All-America honors.
His time in Louisville was highlighted by the Cardinals’ first ACC men’s title in 2021, as well as a historic 2019 season in which Louisville became the first ACC school to have both the men’s and women’s teams earn top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships in the same season, a program-best finish for both teams.
With the Cardinals, Lindauer coached Kelsi Worrell (2012-16), a two-time NCAA champion and 2016 Olympic Gold medalist in the 4x100m medley relay. Lindauer was also key in the development of two-time NCAA champion Nick Albiero (2017-22), and Mallory Comerford (2015-19), a four-time national champion and the first woman in ACC history to earn Swimmer of the Year honors in three consecutive seasons.
A native of Westminster, Colorado, Lindauer also swam collegiately at Louisville, where he was a four-time Big East champion and seven-time All-Big East selection. He graduated in 2008 with a degree in Biology.
Lindauer arrives on The Farm with his wife, Beth, and their three sons, Jack, Owen, and Brady.