Sarah Dunleavy
Sarah Dunleavy
QUICK STATS
Birthday: August 27, 1989
Height: 5’10
Hometown: Bethel Park, PA
College: Purdue University
Coach: John Klinge
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- Named 2019 NCAA Co-Coach of the Year along Teri McKeever (Cal)
- 2015-2019 National Team Coach (Kentucky/Cal)
- 2014 Bethel Park High School (PA) Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee
- Purdue University Team Captain 2012
- Purdue University Athletic Department “John Wooden Leadership Award” (2012)
- Purdue University Swim Team “Cathy Wright-Egar Educational Excellence Award” (2012)
- Open, National and Junior National Qualifier
EXPERIENCE
Sarah Dunleavy is currently the volunteer assistant at The University of Tennessee and is also the Director of Public Relations and Communications Strategy with Beine Wellness Building.
Prior to these roles, Dunleavy served as a Recruiting and Senior Coach consultant with USA Swimming Gold Medal club, The Sierra Marlins from 2019 – 2021. While at the Marlins, she helped assist senior level swimmers through the recruiting process, brainstormed training ideas with other senior level coaches, coached senior level swimmers on the team and lead women’s leadership groups and clinics. Athletes from the Marlins during her tenue have either become apart of program or will become apart of programs such at UCLA, Cal, USC, Auburn, Tennessee, Michigan State, Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbra and University of Chicago just to name some.
A collegiate swimmer at Purdue, Dunleavy’s coaching career has taken her to Illinois State, Kentucky, Pitt and Cal, with all four teams setting numerous school records during her tenure.
From 2017-2019 Dunleavy served as an assistant coach at Cal, where she helped manage all aspects of the Golden Bear program. During her first year, the Golden Bears captured six titles at the Pac-12 Championships, finished as the national runner-up at the NCAA meet and placed 18 swimmers and divers on the CSCA Scholar All-America team. The following year, Cal swimmers won nine Pac-12 races – including all five relays – captured four NCAA events and finished second in the final standings.
From 2016-2017 Dunleavy most served as director of women’s recruiting and assistant coach at Pitt for the 2016-17 season. During her one campaign, she primarily oversaw workouts for the men’s and women’s breaststrokers. The swimmers broke school records six times and produced an All-American with the highest finish by a Pitt swimmer in a sprint event in 14 years.
Dunleavy spent the previous three seasons at Kentucky as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator where she worked with the breaststroke and individual medley group, which produced seven school records, five NCAA qualifiers and five Olympic Trials qualifiers. Overall, the Wildcats finished among the top 20 at the NCAA Championships three times and placed two swimmers on the U.S. National team.
At Illinois State from 2012-13, Dunleavy assisted with the sprint and IM groups, and helped the squad set 16 school records and two conference marks.
In addition, Dunleavy served as a volunteer assistant at Purdue in the spring of 2012, as a camps counselor at Purdue for three summers and as an athlete representative with Allegheny Mountain Swimming LSC from 2006-08.
While at Cal, Pitt and Kentucky, Dunleavy was the liaison with the team’s academic advisor. Kentucky produced the highest GPA among all Division I women’s swimming teams in the spring of 2014 (3.72) and Danielle Galyer received the NCAA Elite 90 Award for having the highest GPA among all participants at the 2016 NCAA Championships. In 2016-17, the Pitt team GPA ranked among the top 20 nationally at 3.35.
As a competitive swimmer, Dunleavy was a team captain and three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection at Purdue from 2008-12. She received the athletic department’s John Wooden Leadership Award as a senior, as well as the swim team’s Cathy Wright-Eger Educational Excellence Award. In high school, Dunleavy competed at various national-level meets and was a 15-time all-state selection.
Dunleavy graduated from Purdue in 2012 with her degree in public relations and rhetorical advocacy, minoring in sociology and law & society. She currently resides in Knoxville with her fiancée, Rob Collins, who is an assistant coach at Tennessee.
Book a clinic with Sarah and learn from her diverse background coaching and swimming!
