West Virginia University Women's Swimming & Diving

The MacDonald File Personal Information Birthday March 30 Hometown Chicago, Ill. Education Valparaiso, 2003 (Bachelor's) Playing Career Valparaiso Wife Krista Children Carys, Teague, Everly Coaching History 2003-05 Marshfield YMCA (Wis.) - Aquatic Director/Head Coach 2006-09 Cincinnati Marlins - Head Satellite Coach (M & W) 2006-08 Xavier - Assistant Coach 2008-09 Xavier - Interim Head Coach 2009-2024 Xavier - Head Coach 2024-Pr. West Virginia - Head Coach Brent MacDonald was named the sixth head coach of the West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving program, as announced by Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker on May 23, 2024. 2025-26 In his second season, MacDonald developed a core of young talent to build the WVU swimming and diving program for the future. Overall, four student-athletes earned medals at the 2026 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships. Freshman Rafael Mimoso and senior Natasha Whittall placed seventh in the pool. Redshirt sophomore Levi Hellmann placed fourth, and senior Abigail Sullivan finished eighth in the diving well. Despite no program records being broken during the season, the Mountaineers reached plenty of milestones. On the women’s team, 14 top-10 program times were set. On the men’s side, 25 top-10 program times were set. Freshman Jake Salcedo led the Mountaineers throughout the season, joining the top-10 in program history in the men’s 500-yard, 1000-yard and 1650-yard freestyle events. After just one season

Catherine Steinmetz joined West Virginia University Athletics as an athletic trainer in September 2025. Steinmetz joins the Mountaineers with extensive experience while pursuing a B.S. and M.S. from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. While in school, Steinmetz was an athletic training student at the Camp Lejeune SMART Clinic in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Steinmetz also served as an athletic training student with Shoreline Physical Therapy in Wilmington, N.C., in 2024. She earned a B.S. in exercise science and an M.S. in athletic training from UNC Wilmington.

Charles Montgomery joined the athletics communications staff as an assistant director of athletics communications/operations in February 2025 after serving t...

James Washbish enters his fourth season as an assistant coach for the West Virginia University swimming and diving program after joining the staff in September 2023. In his role at WVU, Washbish oversees distance freestyle swimmers while assisting in all recruiting efforts. During the 2025-26 season, freshman Jake Salcedo led the Mountaineers, joining the top-10 in program history in the men’s 500-yard, 1000-yard and 1650-yard freestyle events. After just one season, Salcedo ranks in the top four in all those events, including second in the 1000 freestyle. Prior to West Virginia He comes to WVU with eight years of college coaching experience with stops at Kentucky and Ohio. Washbish recently served as the assistant swim coach for the Bobcats from 2021-23. In this role, he primarily coached the distance and middle-distance freestyle swimmers, created and organized recruiting visits and helped lead fundraising for the program. Prior to Ohio, Washbish was the head swim coach at Lafayette High School in Lexington, Kentucky. Washbish led the women's team to a third-place finish at the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) state meet in 2021. Washbish also spent four years at Kentucky as a volunteer assistant coach from 2015-19. In this position, he helped with team management, administrative procedures and other team needs. Washbish earned a B.S. in community and leadership development at Kentucky. He currently resides in Morgantown with his wife, Kathryn.

Katie Wilkins joined the Mountaineer student-athlete development staff in August 2024 as an academic counselor. In this role, she is responsible for providin...

Mary Giardina, a 15-year collegiate athletic administrator, was named executive senior associate athletics director for student-athlete experience, governance and compliance at West Virginia University in January 2026. At WVU, she serves in a senior leadership capacity overseeing the Student-Athlete Academic Services unit and administers the Athletics Compliance operations. She comes from Florida Atlantic where she worked since 2022 as deputy athletics director/chief of staff, overseeing 19 varsity sports, 450 student-athletes and 125 employees. Prior to FAU, she served as executive director of compliance at Duke and director of compliance at the Atlantic Coast Conference. Her career also includes roles in sports information and compliance liaison work at Duke. Giardina began her professional career in 2009 as a teacher at New Orleans College Prep. A former Wake Forest track and field student-athlete, she earned her bachelor's degree in health and exercise science from Wake Forest in 2006 and her master's degree in liberal studies from Duke in 2013. She is a native of Huntington, West Virginia.

Matt O’Neill enters his second season with the West Virginia University swimming and diving program after joining the staff as the head diving coach in August 2025. 2025-26 In his first season at the helm of the diving program, Matt O’Neill overcame various injuries to send three divers to the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships. At the 2026 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships, two divers placed in the top eight. Sophomore Levi Hellmann placed fourth on 3-meter, and senior Abigail Sullivan finished eighth on platform. Both divers earned their first career medals at the Big 12 Championships for their performances. Three divers competed at the Zone A Diving Championships, with Hellmann qualifying for his first career NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on platform. Prior to West Virginia O’Neill was at Harvard from 2019 to 2025, leading 15 individual NCAA Championships qualifiers and three NCAA All-Americans for the Crimson. During this time, Harvard won four Ivy League men’s championships and one Ivy League women’s title. O’Neill also coached Harvard divers to 57 Ivy League top eight finishes and five Ivy League champions. Prior to his time with Harvard, O’Neill was the head diving coach for Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, from 2015 to 2019. During his career, O’Neill has coached 53 NCAA Zone Diving Championships qualifiers and over 40 College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Academic All-Americans. O’Neill also served as the

Michael Walker enters his third season with the West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving program after being named an associate head co...

Sydney Pickrem enters her third season with the West Virginia University swimming and diving program after head coach Brent MacDonald announced she would join the staff as an assistant men’s and women’s swimming coach in July 2024. Pickrem implements practice programs for the swimming and diving program and assists in all recruiting efforts. Prior to West Virginia At the 2024 World Aquatics Championships (25m), Pickrem represented Team Canada and earned a bronze medal with the 100-meter freestyle relay team. She retired from competitive swimming in April 2026. Pickrem represented Team Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and previously competed at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. She placed sixth in the women’s 200-meter individual medley and ninth in the 200 breaststroke at the 2024 Olympics. Pickrem won bronze as part of the 4x100 medley relay team at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. She was also a finalist in the 200 individual medley, placing sixth. Most recently at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, Pickrem earned silver in the 200 IM, and she also took home bronze in the 200 breaststroke and the 4x100 medley relay. In her 2016 Olympic debut, Pickrem placed sixth in the 200 IM and competed in the 400 IM. At the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, Pickrem earned bronze in the 400 IM. She also earned three medals at the world championships in 2019, placing third in the 200 IM, 200 breaststroke and the 4x100 medley relay. Pickrem also chaired the Olympic Program Athlete Council