Steve Barnes

Biography

Steve Barnes was promoted to the associate head coach for swimming and diving ahead of the 2023-24 season. Prior to his arrival in Tallahassee, Barnes worked in athletics administration at Ithaca College, his alma mater, after nine seasons as a coach at Penn State. He spent three years as the associate head coach following six years as an assistant coach. Both the men’s and women’s programs at Penn State placed in the top 30 at the NCAA Championships in five out of seven appearances. 2016 Irish Olympian Shane Ryan earned two medals at NCAAs during Barnes’ tenure. Along with Ryan, two more Nittany Lions competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; both Melissa Rodriguez and Gabe Castano competed for Mexico. In 2020-21, Penn State scored points at the NCAA Championships for the ninth-straight year, eight of which were under Barnes’ direction. The 2018-19 season featured the first individual NCAA National Champion for the PSU women’s squad. Prior to his time at Penn State, Barnes spent four seasons as the head coach of the Wabash College swimming and diving program. Wabash earned three top-four finishes in four years at the North Coast Athletic Conference Men’s Championships under the direction of Barnes. Two of his swimmers claimed All-American honors at the 2011 NCAA Division III Championships. Barnes previously spent three seasons as Kalamazoo College as an assistant coach. During this time, the program set an NCAA record, 39 school records, 36 individual and relay conference titles,