Austin Pillado

Biography

Austin Pillado begins his second season at Washington State after joining the program as an assistant coach prior to the 2024-25 season. Pillado was promoted to Associate Head Coach this past summer. Pillado came to Pullman after working the 2023-24 season as an assistant coach on the National Champion Arizona State Men’s Swimming and Diving Teams and working the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Penn State. In his first season with the Cougars, Pillado helped WSU post a perfect 8-0 record in dual meets, tying the record for single-season wins and the first undefeated season in program history. Three Cougars earned trips to the NCAA Championships, marking just the second in program history with three NCAA selections. Ten swimmers and four relays earned All-Mountain West honors after WSU claimed five individual titles and two relay championships while four swimmers earned CSC Academic All-District honors. Pillado served as an assistant coach with the Arizona State Swimming program in 2023-24, which saw the women finish No. 24 nationally and the men claimed their first National Championship in program history. The Sun Devil men were also crowned the 2024 Pac-12 champions for the second year in a row. Pillado primarily trained the breaststroke group, which saw four men go under the 52-second barrier, and assisted with the sprint group in Tempe. Pillado was able to work with some of the best athletes in the world, ranging from Simone Manuel, Ryan held, and Olivia Smol