Geoff Hanson

Geoff Hanson was named head coach for the swimming and diving program on May 22, 2019, taking over for 32-year coaching veteran Rick Walker.

In his first year at SIU, Hanson led the women’s team to a runner-up finish in the Missouri Valley Conference and the men’s team to a third-place finish in the Mid-American Conference. The men’s team totaled 622 points at the 2020 MAC Championships, which was its most since joining the conference in 2009. The Salukis set nine school records and one conference record during the 2019-20 season. Additionally, five individuals earned specialty conference awards and 17 were all-conference selections.

Freshman swimmers Lucia Romero and Adam Cernek excelled under the tutelage of Hanson. At the 2020 MVC Championships, Romero broke a conference record in the 100-back and school records in the 50-free, 100-back, 200-back, 200-free relay, 200-medley relay, and 400-medley relay. Cernek broke school records and won the 100- and 200-back titles at the 2020 MAC Championships. Both swimmers were named Freshman of the Year in their respective conferences.

He coached Southern to a combined 12-6 mark in dual-meet competition with key conference wins over Indiana State, Illinois State, Little Rock, and Evansville last season. Hanson also led his program to a pair of first-place finishes at the SIU Invitational.

Hanson has 20 years of collegiate coaching experience, which includes three seasons as head coach at Division II Colorado Mesa (2017-19) and two years as head coach at Western State Colorado (2015-16). He was the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year on both the men's and women's sides in 2019 and won the award five times in the last five seasons.

Colorado Mesa set school records for the highest finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships in both 2018 and 2019. The Mavericks finished a school-best 11th on the men's side and 16th on the women's side in 2019. Hanson also served as the school's triathlon squad head coach and led the program to a runner-up finish at the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships in the fall of 2018 after winning the West Regional.

Before becoming a head coach, Hanson served as the associate head coach at Pac-12 Arizona for two years and was an assistant head coach at Big Ten Wisconsin for 10 years, after serving as an assistant coach for his first two years with the Badgers.

Hanson was the personal coach of Carly Piper, who won a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and set a world record in the 4x200 freestyle relay. He also coached Alyssa Anderson, who won a gold medal in the 4x200 freestyle relay at the 2012 London Olympics.

In his 20 years of collegiate coaching, Hanson has coached five Olympic finalists and four individual NCAA National Champions.

Hanson swam collegiately at Arizona from 1993-96, earning All-American honorable mention accolades. He was a two-time USA Swimming National Finalist and earned the Mary Roby Academic/Athletic Achievement Award. Hanson earned All-Academic Pac-10 honors and graduated with a bachelor's degree in history with a minor in sociology. He currently resides in Makanda with his wife, Kate.