ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis University Director of Athletics Chris May has announced the hiring of 2024 Billiken Hall of Fame inductee Ryan McCoy as head coach of SLU's men's and women's swimming and diving teams.
McCoy brings seven years of coaching experience to Saint Louis, most recently as an assistant at Illinois State during the 2024-25 season. He spent four years as an assistant at Indianapolis after beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Eastern Illinois.
"We are thrilled to announce Ryan McCoy as the new head coach for Billiken swimming and diving, and we welcome him back to lead the young women and men in our program," May said. "Ryan's record-setting Billiken career and his successful coaching stops have prepared him to guide our student-athletes to success."
"I am ecstatic and honored to be named the head men's and women's swimming and diving coach for Saint Louis University," McCoy said. "I would like to thank Chris May, (Deputy Director of Athletics) Dr. Janet Oberle and (Associate Director of Athletics) Annie Reis for the opportunity to lead this great group of young men and women toward the program's competitive future.
"As an alumnus of the program, the core values of trust, care and commitment to excellence were, and still are, the foundation of success for building a competitive team in the Atlantic 10 Conference," McCoy said. "The well-being of student-athletes as priority number one is a value that I am happy to have seen firsthand, and I am grateful that I now have the privilege of coaching and shaping Billiken student-athletes toward their bright futures. I cannot wait to get to work and once again call SLU home."
As the lead sprinters' coach at Illinois State, McCoy mentored swimmers who set three school records and one who achieved an NCAA "B" qualifying standard.
McCoy's tenure at NCAA Division II Indianapolis included the first national championship in program history and two conference titles for the men's team as well as two national runner-up finishes and the first conference crown in 18 years for the women's team. He helped develop Greyhound swimmers Cedric Buessing and Collins Saliboko into 2024 Paris Olympics qualifiers for their native countries of Germany and Tanzania, respectively.
Eastern Illinois swimmers set eight school records during McCoy's two seasons on the coaching staff. Prior to his second year, he served two months as interim head coach.
As a student-athlete at Saint Louis, McCoy competed in the 2016 Olympic Trials in the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle and met the NCAA "B" qualifying standard at least twice in four different events (11 times total). He collected 20 medals (10 individual, 10 relay) in A-10 Championships competition and was a nine-time conference champion (five individual, four relay), capturing at least one gold medal in each of his four seasons. McCoy was the 2015 A-10 Rookie of the Year and earned 10 league awards as either Performer or Rookie of the Week.
The Phoenix, Ariz., native was named Most Valuable Performer of the SLU men's team in each of his four years. He held 12 school records (eight individual, four relay) at the time of his 2018 graduation; all eight individual and two of the four relay marks stand today.
McCoy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in sports business at Saint Louis and a Master of Business Administration degree in applied management at Eastern Illinois.