Introducing: Assistant Coach Steve Jungbluth
Monday, July 26, 2010 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Growing up, University of Florida Swimming and Diving Assistant Coach Steve Jungbluth couldn't help but hang around swimming pools. After all, his three older sisters swam, and his mom continually brought him poolside to watch. One day, Jungbluth decided he wanted in on the fun.
“Eventually I told my mom, 'I want to hop in and swim too,'” Jungbluth said. “That was it.”
From that point on, Jungbluth immersed himself in swimming, eventually becoming a four-year letterwinner at the University of Massachusetts. After serving as co-captain during his senior season, Jungbluth graduated with a master's degree in exercise science. From there, Jungbluth used his leadership skills to smoothly transition into coaching collegiate swimming.
“There were definitely experiences I had as a team captain that I was able to learn from,” Jungbluth said. “It set the foundation of my leadership role as a coach.”
Before coming to Florida, Jungbluth was an assistant coach at Amherst (Mass.) College and the Naval Academy. Most recently, he served as the head coach at Colgate, directing the Raiders to the top of the Patriot League for seven seasons. His women's team won the league title in two of his last three seasons in Hamilton, N.Y. Every swimmer he recruited into the program achieved at least one personal-best time during the course of their careers. Since then, Jungbluth has seen coaching continue to evolve on the collegiate level.
“It's changed a lot,” Jungbluth said. “Coaching is now an all-encompassing role. It's not just coaching swimming; it's being a life mentor.”
That type of attitude will help the Florida program for years to come, as Jungbluth takes pride in that mentor role during the recruiting process. His favorite thing outside coaching is searching for talent and signing top-level recruits. With Florida's first-class facilities, Jungbluth looks forward to the future.
“The facilities here are amazing,” Jungbluth said. “It's known as one of the fastest pools in the country for short-course yards. It's massive.”
Jungbluth considers coming to Gainesville “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” He will work primarily with the sprint crew and breaststrokers, but will coach other areas as well. Head Coach Gregg Troy encourages flexibility, allowing the coaching staff to create practices the swimmers need to maximize their performances.
In 2010-11, Jungbluth looks forward to maximizing the performances of his swimmers. In fact, his stated goal is to “put the program in the best possible position by the end of the year to compete for championships.” With that said, Jungbluth understands the talent in the pool and is anxious to get started.
“I'm psyched about all the swimmers,” Jungbluth said. “They've been great so far. It's been fun to see the high-caliber talent that we're working with here. We get to coach some of the best in the world.”
