Oleg Andriyuk is the new Cal Diving Coach
Remember this moment if/when we are talking about Calympian divers at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games
In a bit of a surprise, Cal announced the hiring of Oleg Andriyuk as the new Diving Coach on Tuesday afternoon.
Andriyuk, a former Ukrainian national team and USSR junior national team diver, has been the head coach of Stanford Diving Club (not to be confused as being the head diving coach of Stanford, which is Patrick Jeffrey who is listed the “program director” of the Stanford Diving Club) from 2009 to 2021 and had held similar titles at Trojan Diving Club (1999-2009). Andriyuk has trained several US Olympic divers during his stints at USC and Stanford and went to the Rio 2016 Games as an assistant diving coach on Team USA.
"I am honored to accept the diving coach position at Cal and be a part of this hard-working and well-decorated program," Andriyuk said. "I feel privileged to join such a legendary Cal Aquatics staff and I am excited to work side-by-side with all the coaches. My ultimate goal is to contribute to the overall results to help the Cal men's and women's swimming & diving teams win future national titles."
Andriyuk's success at Stanford Diving Club earned him multiple international assignments, including as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games where he oversaw Kristian Ipsen earn the United States' first top-five finish in the men's 3-meter individual event in 16 years. Andriyuk has also served on staff at the 2016 FINA World Cup, 2015 FINA World Championships and 2014 FINA Junior World Championships.
"Oleg's continued success in developing championship-caliber diving programs makes him an outstanding fit for our Cal Aquatics family," Durden said. "His high standard of performance at Stanford Diving Club, and previously at Trojan Diving Club, has produced consistent success at the national and international levels. I'm looking forward to having him impact our program and continue our tradition of success at Cal."
After leading Stanford Diving Club to a No. 1 national ranking in 2018, Andriyuk received the Moose Moss Age Group Award – given to the most outstanding age-group diving coach in the nation – and the Dick Wilson Memorial Award, which recognizes the most-improved age-group club in the country. The Stanford and Trojan Diving Clubs' Junior Olympics team athletes amassed 47 individual national medals (22 gold, 11 silver, 14 bronze) under Andriyuk. His senior-level divers added 15 medals (11 gold, three silver, one bronze) at the Senior National Championship levels.
"Oleg's development of nationally-ranked club programs and his success in guiding divers to the highest levels of the sport make him a great addition to our Cal Aquatics family," McKeever said. "His leadership at Stanford Diving Club over the past 12-plus years as well as his selection as a coach for Team USA at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games proves that he knows what it takes to help our student-athletes thrive. I'm excited to welcome him to Cal and have him further our tradition of success."
Since building Legends Aquatics Center in 2016, Cal Aquatics have been hoping to make the jump where they can score some valuable points from the three diving events (out of 21 total events) at the NCAA Championships. The diving platform at Legends meant that Cal divers no longer needed to commute down to Stanford to train for platform diving.
Former Cal diving coach Derek Starks had been able to consistently get one or two Cal divers to qualify for the NCAA Championships but not to be competitive enough to score points (or make the A-Final, top 8, for the impact points). Texas’ strong diving program to complement their swimming program had given the Longhorns a consistent 30-50 points edge to Cal in numerous tight NCAA Team Championship battles over the past decade.
Andriyuk’s pedigree in developing young divers into Olympians as well as his existing California connections from over 20 years of coaching in the state make him an interesting choice to lead Cal diving. While other programs may be able to hire away an established coach of a diving powerhouse, Cal did the next best thing in getting the second-in-command of a successful diving power at Stanford.
We should be able to see tangible results from Cal diving as soon as 2023, if not sooner if Cal was able to add some experienced graduate transfers for 2022.
Welcome to Berkeley, Coach Andriyuk!
GO BEARS!
Seems like a solid hire. Ruey, why was it a "bit of a surprise"? Was there someone else you expected, or was it because 'Furd ties?
Very exciting! I am amazed that Cal pulled this off. I was hopeful that once they had finally built actual diving platforms at Cal that they could then focus on getting a top coach. It’s frustrating to see your program concede all the points in diving and then have to try to make up the difference in the pool.