Rickey Perkins

Directing camp is head swimming coach, Rickey Perkins.

Heading into 2022-23 season and Perkins’ fifth season as the head swimming coach, Perkins is coming off a 3-4 record in 2021-22 and a 6^th place finish at MAC Championships. Perkins team swam to victory twice against neighboring rival Toledo and in-state foe Cleveland State. Senior Daisy Platts earned her fourth straight First Team All-MAC selection with a win for the third straight season in the 100 Backstroke before heading to NCAA Championships where she broke her own program record in the 200 Backstroke. Kellie House also earned Second Team All-MAC honors after finishing 2^nd in the 1650 Freestyle and 4^th in the 500 Freestyle. Perkins’ student athletes continued to excel in the classroom with 22 Falcons being named to the Academic All-MAC Team.

For the 2020-21 season, Perkins and the Falcons finished the season with a 1-3 record with a win over Battle of I-75 rival Toledo and an 8^th place finish at MAC Championships. Perkins coached Daisy Platts to her third straight First Team All-MAC selection thanks to her winning the 100 and 200 Backstroke at MAC Championships while setting two school records. Platts went on to enjoy more success at NCAA Championships with a 21^st finish in the 100 Backstroke and a 24^th place finish in the 200 Backstroke. The Falcons also earned 16 Academic All-MAC selections under Perkins’ guidance.

Over the course of the COVID shortened season of 2019-20, Perkins led the Falcons to a .500 record of 3-3 with wins against Marshall and MAC foe Ohio and a 5^th place finish at MAC Championships. Perkins also coached Daisy Platts and Talisa Lemke to another First Team All-MAC Recognition. Platts won the 100 Backstroke and 200 Backstroke while at MAC Championships with Sarah Hennings finishing 3^rd and breaking the program record in the 100 Butterfly. Lemke won her third straight MAC Diver of the Year award thanks to her stellar wins in the 3 Meter Dive and 1 Meter Dive. Swimmers Daisy Platts and Lauren Sullivan made the NCAA cuts and divers Kylie Mosset and Talisa Lemke qualified for NCAA Diving Zones before the stoppage of the NCAA season due to COVID-19.

In Perkins first season he led the Falcons to an 8-5 record, including wins over Michigan State and Toledo and a 6^th place finish at MAC Championships. Perkins also coached Daisy Platts and Talisa Lemke to First Team All-MAC honors. Platts set a program record by winning the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:54.52. Lemke won the 1-meter and 3-meter dives at the MAC Championships. Lemke was also selected Google Cloud Academic All-District and recognized as a Distinguished Scholar Athlete. Sarah Hennings and Lauren Sullivan were recognized on the MAC Championships podium as well.

Perkins also guided 17 student-athletes to Academic All-MAC recognition. The team had a GPA of 3.69, the second-highest in the MAC and eighth-highest in Division I. The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America recognized the program as a Scholar All-American Team, with Platts and Lemke earning individual recognition.

BGSU Director of Athletics Bob Moosbrugger announced the hiring of Perkins on Aug. 9, 2018. Perkins previously served as the men's and women's swimming and diving head coach at the University of Evansville since 2002. A five-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Perkins coached 13 Missouri Valley individual champions and 70 First Team All-Conference selections while at Evansville. Additionally, 30 school records were broken, and a total of 16 All-American performances took place under the watch of Perkins.

Perkins and his teams excelled away from the pool. While at UE, Perkins earned the Director of Athletics Award for Excellence under the category of "The Student-Athlete Experience." Evansville teams also flourished in the classroom. Perkins coached four Academic All-Americans, and his teams racked up a total of 95 Missouri Valley Conference All-Scholar awards.

Prior to arriving in Evansville, Perkins served as the head assistant swimming coach, recruiting coordinator and academic coach at the University of Washington from 1999-2002. Perkins assisted in the organization and administration of all phases for the Division I, PAC-12 program.

Before arriving at Washington, Perkins spent one year (1998-99) as a National Coach for the Barracuda Swim Club in Nassau, Bahamas, working with competitive age groups as well as the senior program. Under his guidance, the National Team broke seven meet records and recorded its highest finish ever at the CARIFTA Swim Championships, which is the top swim meet among Caribbean countries.

Perkins got his start in coaching at the high school and club levels in Anchorage, Alaska in 1989, eventually working his way up to become the head swimming coach at his alma mater – the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Perkins worked at his alma mater as the head coach from 1994-98.

Perkins' wife, Delores, a special education teacher, also served as a volunteer assistant coach on Rickey's staff at Evansville. Originally from Midland, Texas, Perkins earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Alaska-Anchorage.