By Sean Griffin on SwimSwam
The Redding Swim Team, one of 53 USA Swimming club teams located in Northern California, announced on Friday, May 30, that Matt Biondi—an 11-time Olympic medalist, International Swimming Hall of Fame inductee, and the first man to break 49 seconds in the men’s 100-meter long course freestyle—will be joining the team as its new Head Coach and General Manager.
Biondi succeeds Mark Wagner, who retired after nearly 29 years of dedicated leadership.
“We are honored to welcome Coach Matt to our swim family,” said Jennifer Scarborough Haslerud, President of the Redding Swim Team Board, in the team’s official press release. “His experience, values, and vision are a perfect fit for our mission to cultivate both competitive excellence and character in our swimmers.”
In addition to leading the Redding Swim Team, which trains at Shasta College, Biondi will also serve as Head Swimming and Diving Coach at the college itself.
Biondi, 59, is set to take the helm at Redding in June and will assume his role with Shasta College in early August.
“I’ve always believed that swimming can be a powerful tool for building confidence and community,” Biondi told Lassen News. “Joining the Redding Swim Team gives me the opportunity to continue that mission and help young people grow into their best selves—both in and out of the water.”
He added, “I’ve been fortunate to experience the highest levels of competition, but the most meaningful moments of my career have come from helping young people realize their potential. I look forward to building a program grounded in hard work, integrity, and joy in the water.”
Biondi, one of the most decorated swimmers in history, is a three-time Olympian, having represented the United States at the 1984, 1988, and 1992 Olympic Games. Over the course of his career, he won a total of 11 Olympic medals: eight gold, two silver, and one bronze.
His Olympic journey began in Los Angeles, where he won his first gold medal as a member of the 4×100 freestyle relay team.
At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Biondi earned seven medals: five gold, one silver in the 100 butterfly, and one bronze in the 200 freestyle. His gold medals in Seoul came in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 4×100 freestyle relay, 4×200 freestyle relay, and 4×100 medley relay.
Biondi competed in his third Olympic Games in Barcelona, where he added two more gold medals in the 4×100 freestyle relay and 4×100 medley relay, along with a silver medal in the 50 freestyle.
Beyond the Olympics, Biondi captured 24 U.S. national titles, 13 NCAA championships, and set 12 individual world records.
Biondi is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy of Industrialized Societies. In 2000, he completed a Master’s degree in Education at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
He has three children: Nate, who swam for the UC Berkeley men’s team from 2018 to 2021; Lucas, and Makena.
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