Matt Kinney

Head Swimming Coach

Four years into his Carnegie Mellon coaching tenure, Matthew Kinney has established a tradition of swimming excellence by turning the women’s program into a national competitor alongside the men’s program.

The 2011 season saw six women make the NCAA Championships field as the 800-yard freestyle relay team became the first relay in school history to earn All-America status with a 13th-place finish. Two men also competed at the championships with one earning All-America honors for the second-straight year. This all followed the 2010 season when all eight NCAA competitors earned All-America status, while 15 others made qualifying marks.

That 2010 season was one of the best for the men's program as all seven athletes who competed at the NCAA Championships earned All-America or All-America Honorable Mention honors. Five of those athletes earned their first-ever award as the team finished 15th in the nation. The team also finished second at the UAA meet for the third year and set two school records.

In 2008-09, the team broke five school records and finished second at the UAA Championships for the second straight year. This follows Kinney’s first year in charge when one school record was broken, 13 men made qualifying marks for NCAA's, and the team finished second at the UAA meet for the first time since 2005.

Overall, Kinney has mentored nine Carnegie Mellon male athletes to 18 All-America honors while he and his assistants were named UAA Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year in 2009 and 2010. The athletes have also set and re-set six individual and two relay school records under Kinney's leadership.

Prior to 2008, Kinney spent 12 years as the head men's and women's swimming coach at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Throughout his 12 year tenure as head coach at Mary Washington, Kinney led the men's and women's teams to an impressive combined dual mark of 182-59 and a total of 22 combined Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) titles, including 12 straight for the women’s program. During Mary Washington’s conference title run he was named CAC Coach of the Year 12 times, seven with the women's program and five with the men. Kinney has brought tremendous coaching experience to Carnegie Mellon University, as he coached 88 All-America performers at UMW.

A native of Canton, Ohio, Kinney is a 1993 graduate of Kenyon College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. While a student-athlete at Kenyon he was a three-time All-America athlete for the Lords and was part of three NCAA Division III National Championship teams. He was also selected captain his senior season. Following his undergraduate work, Kinney went on to Western Illinois University, where he earned a Master of Science degree in sports management while assisting with the swimming program.

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