Tommy Stich - Men's Swimming & Diving Coach

Tommy Stich

Credentials:
MS, LAT, ATC, CSCS, CES, PES
Title:
Athletic Trainer
Phone:
4851
Email:
tommys@gators.ufl.edu

Tommy Stich enters his seventh year as an Athletic Trainer at the University of Florida. During his first four years as a Gator, Stich worked with the storied men’s & women’s swimming and diving teams. Since August of 2017, he has worked with the championship-caliber women’s lacrosse team. Stich is responsible for the daily care of Florida’s student-athletes, as well as injury prevention and rehabilitation. He joined the Florida athletic training staff in August 2013.

In his two seasons with Florida lacrosse, the Gators have made two NCAA Tournaments, including a spot in the “Elite Eight” during the 2018 season. UF has also tallied two regular season conference championships, two conference tournament championships and has gone undefeated in conference play with Stich as athletic trainer.

While with the swimming & diving program, Stich worked with countless Olympic athletes, including multiple Olympic medalist and former world champion Elizabeth Beisel and 2-time Olympic gold medalist and 7 time world champion Caeleb Dressel. During his four seasons with the squad, the Gators men’s team placed in the Top-5 or better at the NCAA Championships. The men’s team also won four-straight Southeastern Conference championships while Stich was working with the squad.

Along with his sport responsibilities at Florida, Stich is responsible for managing over 60 AEDs within the UAA facilities. He also assists with drug testing of student-athletes. Stich serves as an administrator for electronic medical record systems (Presagia ad PRIVIT), a clinical Preceptor for the Athletic Training Education Program. He also assisted with the creation of courses and learning/graduation objectives for the new Doctor of Athletic Training program at UF.

Stich served as a medical spotter for the Florida football team during the 2014 season. This meant that Stich would watch football games from the press box, with the ability to halt game action if a head injury went unnoticed from the sidelines. ESPN sat down for an interview with Stich to talk about the importance of that position in the game. After the 2014 season, it was mandated that all SEC schools have an outside medical observer present at games.

Prior to Florida, Stich worked with the U.S. Army at Fort Jackson Army Training Center in Columbia, S.C. for two years. He served as the athletic trainer for soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment “River Raiders” of the 193rd Infantry Brigade. His responsibilities were to assess the soldiers’ injuries and get them back to training as soon as possible. Stich assisted with the care of soldiers in Drill Sergeant School – the only Army Drill Sergeant School in the U.S. The school trains 2,200 Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) each year. Fort Jackson trains 54% of all Army’s Basic Combat Training load and 60% of all female soldiers entering the Army.

Before his time at Fort Jackson, Stich worked at the University of Louisville for a little over two years (2009-11). He served as the men’s & women’s swimming & diving athletic trainer for two seasons. In his first season with the team, the men won the first conference title in school history. In the second year, both the men and women were conference champions. In his final six months at Louisville, Stich worked with the lacrosse and volleyball teams.

Stich spent two years in Baton Rouge at LSU, where he earned his Master of Science in Sports Management in 2009. While at LSU, he worked with the swimming & diving teams for his first year, then moved to work with the volleyball and women’s tennis teams for the final year of the program.

A 2007 graduate from Fresno State, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Athletic Training. During his time at Fresno State, Stich served as President of the Sports Medicine Club. He also became a Certified Athletic Trainer through the Board of Certification 2007.

Stich is a member of the National Athletic Trainer Association (NATA), South Eastern Athletic Trainers Association (SEATA), Athletic Trainers Association of Florida (ATAF) and has received numerous certifications since graduating from college.

Stich’s Certifications

Functional Movement Screening – 2011
Selective Functional Movement Assessment – 2011
Provider and instructor for Basic Life Support for medical providers - American Heart Association
Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist - National Strength and Conditioning Association – 2013
Corrective Exercise Specialist - National Academy of Sports Medicine – 2014
Blood Flow Restriction Therapy (BFR) - Owens Recovery Science – 2015
Active Release Technique - (lower extremity - 2016; upper extremity - 2017)
Performance Enhancement Specialist - National Academy of Sports Medicine – 2019

A 2002 graduate of Rocklin High School, Stich is originally from Rocklin, Calif. He is a huge fan of the NBA and cheers on his hometown Sacramento Kings.
He is married to Cassie (formerly Cassie Gilford) and they reside in Gainesville. The couple are parents of two children, son Cayden and daughter Myla.