DAVIS, Calif. -- The longest-tenured head coach in UC Davis history, head women's swimming and diving coach Barbara Jahn announced to her team Tuesday afternoon that she will step down after the 2020-21 season, ending what will be a decorated 46-year run at the helm.
Jahn has mentored the Aggie program from its days as an AIAW Division III member in the 1970s through its NCAA Division II success to the current Division I era. UC Davis finished as the national runner up in 1981, the last of the AIAW era, then enjoyed eight top-10 finishes at the NCAA Division II meet. After the university completed its transition to Division I, the Aggies won the Big West Conference team title in 2010, then captured four Mountain Pacific Sports Federation crowns during the subsequent six seasons.
"Barb has been a pillar of UC Davis Athletics for decades and is a pioneering leader in women's coaching," said Kevin Blue, director of athletics. "When Barb approached me about her retirement in the spring, I reflected on the extraordinary influence she's had on thousands of students she's coached, taught, and mentored at UC Davis. We're eager to celebrate her career throughout the remainder of her final season."
In 2019, the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association named Jahn as the recipient of the Richard E Steadman Award, which recognizes those who have "done the most to spread happiness in Coach Steadman's beloved sport of swimming and diving."
"Every year, we face new challenges, and every year is different," Jahn said in a statement to her current Aggies. "That's what makes this job so rewarding and never the same. The ebb and flow of outgoing seniors and incoming freshmen create unique team dynamics. Watching you grow and develop as teammates and as individuals is what's all about. The years go by in a nanosecond and within that timeframe, I have watched you develop into mature, capable, independent, responsible and hardworking young women ready to 'launch.'"
Individually, Jahn guided her student-athletes to more than 120 individual and relay All-America finishes at the NCAA Championships, including 15 national titles. Two of her swimmers – Anna Pettis and Kristi Wheeler – were chosen to the NCAA Division II "team of the decade" for the 1980s. Six of her protegés have gone on to win the campus' Hubert Heitman Award as the outstanding female athlete of the year, with another three claiming the W.P. Lindley Award as the university's top scholar-athlete of the year. Six of her athletes are enshrined in the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame.
The Lindley Award represents just a portion of the academic achievements won by Jahn's student-athletes. The Aggies won their 12th CSCAA Scholar All-America team award last June, and have landed at least 10 honorees on the MPSF All-Academic team every year since joining the conference in 2011.
Jahn also owns the unusual distinction of earning Coach of the Year honors in four different leagues: as part of the Northern California Athletic Conference, then again in the team's final year with the multi-division Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference. She won the Big West Conference's final award in 2010, and has since won such honors in the MPSF in 2011 and 2013.
A 1973 graduate of UC Santa Barbara who completed her master's degree from UCLA in 1975, Jahn has effectively been the only full-time head coach in the program's varsity history. After the passage of Title IX, former Olympian Debbie Meyer was originally tabbed to helm the team while she was still a UC Davis student, but left the university before she could assume the post. Assistant coach Scott Gaw ran the program for one year prior to Jahn's arrival, while Rick Henderson served as an interim coach during Jahn's sabbatical year of 1982-83. Her 46-year run at the Aggie helm – which includes two seasons as the head UC Davis softball coach – makes her the longest-tenured head coach in department history.
"I am so grateful for the opportunity UC Davis gave me all those years ago," Jahn said to her team. "I have grown with the program and the campus and every day I thank my lucky stars to have been associated with such a phenomenal institution. As they say: do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life."
A national search for Jahn's successor will commence in the spring of 2021.
ABOUT UC DAVIS:
With the addition of equestrian and women's beach volleyball in 2018, more than 700 student-athletes represent the fifth-ranked public school in the nation on one of 25 intercollegiate athletics teams.
UC Davis, a national leader in Title IX gender equity and leadership, is centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley; and offers an unrivaled student-athlete experience that features the ideal combination of elite academics, Division I athletics and personal growth.
Ranked annually in the top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis is uncommonly committed to preparing student-athletes for life after graduation with Aggie EVO — an innovative student-athlete outcomes program that helps young women and men develop passions, gain real-world experience, and enjoy a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school. Through Aggie EVO, Intercollegiate Athletics provides unmatched resources and a vast network of working professionals to ensure post-graduation success for its student-athletes.
