WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue alumnus Alex Jerden, who has worked with the program as a volunteer assistant during his time with the Boilermaker Aquatics club team, has been promoted to the lead assistant coach role with Purdue men's swimming.
Head coach Dan Ross announced that he's rewarding Jerden with the fulltime position, which has been vacant since the fall of 2020. Jerden continued to serve as a volunteer while the Boilermakers excelled amid the pandemic-impacted season this year, qualifying four relays and six swimmers total for the NCAA Championships.
Jerden served as a volunteer assistant at the University of Texas from April 2018 to May 2019, working with all training groups under the guidance of longtime head coach Eddie Reese and assistant Wyatt Collins.
"I owe a lot of gratitude to all of the previous coaches I've been able to work with over the years," Jerden said. "Without their encouragement, leadership and teachings this opportunity would not be possible. Since stepping on deck as a volunteer here at Purdue, Dan Ross and the entire swimming & diving staff have been really good to me. I'm grateful that they'll have me back to help again, this time in a more involved role. It's been a joy and privilege to watch these men work for the team they want to be. The opportunity to continue to support them toward their pursuits is something I'm both honored and excited about."
A 2009 Purdue graduate, Jerden joined the Boilermakers in August 2019. This summer marks his third long course season and fifth year overall with Boilermaker Aquatics. He became the head club administrator and head age group coach in May 2019, helping to grow the championship participation to the highest in club history. Altogether, he has 13 years of experience coaching competitive swimming.
While Jerden was in Austin, the Longhorns finished in second place at the 2019 NCAA Championships as the host of the national championship meet. He shared recruiting duties, contributed to the changes the Longhorns made in the weight room, and assisted with the Texas Swimming summer camp as well as the women's swimming day camp in the winter of 2019.
"Alex knows our swimmers. He has been involved in the planning and implementation of workouts and training the past two years," Ross said. "He also knows my strengths and weaknesses, so it became apparent it was time to expand his role from volunteer to a fulltime commitment to this team. He's learned from some of the best in Eddie Reese at Texas and Zach DeWitt at Franklin. Along with Alex's life experiences, I believe I'm hiring a seasoned coach, not a newbie.
"Being in charge of recruiting is going to be a huge part of what Alex does and his personality makes him ideal for that role. But most importantly, the guys on our team love him. They wanted him to be their coach, and I'm beyond excited to hire Alex as my sixth fulltime assistant coach."
Prior to Texas, Jerden spent three seasons in a dual role in Franklin, Indiana, coaching both the Franklin Regional Swim Team and Franklin Community High School. He was a head age group coach at the club and an assistant leading the sprint and breaststroke groups at the high school. In Franklin he learned from DeWitt, a two-time Indiana Coach of the Year. Jerden helped restructure the age group program for long-term growth, worked to implement the GAIN dryland program and was a two-time Indiana Age Group Coach of the Year nominee. Meanwhile, the FCHS teams made an unprecedented rise during his tenure. The girls emerged from a non-scoring team at state to a fourth-place finisher in 2018. The boys went from 13th to second place in the same time frame.
Jerden had the opportunity of swimming for and coaching with the late Dr. Dave Tanner at Bloomington High School North. Tanner is a renowned alumnus of the Indiana University swimming & diving program and served as Jerden's inspiration to pursue a career in coaching. Jerden worked with Tanner from 2010 through 2014 as the co-head coach at Bloomington North during the 2013-14 school year while also serving as senior coach with the Counsilman Center Indiana Swim Team.
Head coach Dan Ross announced that he's rewarding Jerden with the fulltime position, which has been vacant since the fall of 2020. Jerden continued to serve as a volunteer while the Boilermakers excelled amid the pandemic-impacted season this year, qualifying four relays and six swimmers total for the NCAA Championships.
Jerden served as a volunteer assistant at the University of Texas from April 2018 to May 2019, working with all training groups under the guidance of longtime head coach Eddie Reese and assistant Wyatt Collins.
"I owe a lot of gratitude to all of the previous coaches I've been able to work with over the years," Jerden said. "Without their encouragement, leadership and teachings this opportunity would not be possible. Since stepping on deck as a volunteer here at Purdue, Dan Ross and the entire swimming & diving staff have been really good to me. I'm grateful that they'll have me back to help again, this time in a more involved role. It's been a joy and privilege to watch these men work for the team they want to be. The opportunity to continue to support them toward their pursuits is something I'm both honored and excited about."
A 2009 Purdue graduate, Jerden joined the Boilermakers in August 2019. This summer marks his third long course season and fifth year overall with Boilermaker Aquatics. He became the head club administrator and head age group coach in May 2019, helping to grow the championship participation to the highest in club history. Altogether, he has 13 years of experience coaching competitive swimming.
While Jerden was in Austin, the Longhorns finished in second place at the 2019 NCAA Championships as the host of the national championship meet. He shared recruiting duties, contributed to the changes the Longhorns made in the weight room, and assisted with the Texas Swimming summer camp as well as the women's swimming day camp in the winter of 2019.
"Alex knows our swimmers. He has been involved in the planning and implementation of workouts and training the past two years," Ross said. "He also knows my strengths and weaknesses, so it became apparent it was time to expand his role from volunteer to a fulltime commitment to this team. He's learned from some of the best in Eddie Reese at Texas and Zach DeWitt at Franklin. Along with Alex's life experiences, I believe I'm hiring a seasoned coach, not a newbie.
"Being in charge of recruiting is going to be a huge part of what Alex does and his personality makes him ideal for that role. But most importantly, the guys on our team love him. They wanted him to be their coach, and I'm beyond excited to hire Alex as my sixth fulltime assistant coach."
Prior to Texas, Jerden spent three seasons in a dual role in Franklin, Indiana, coaching both the Franklin Regional Swim Team and Franklin Community High School. He was a head age group coach at the club and an assistant leading the sprint and breaststroke groups at the high school. In Franklin he learned from DeWitt, a two-time Indiana Coach of the Year. Jerden helped restructure the age group program for long-term growth, worked to implement the GAIN dryland program and was a two-time Indiana Age Group Coach of the Year nominee. Meanwhile, the FCHS teams made an unprecedented rise during his tenure. The girls emerged from a non-scoring team at state to a fourth-place finisher in 2018. The boys went from 13th to second place in the same time frame.
Jerden had the opportunity of swimming for and coaching with the late Dr. Dave Tanner at Bloomington High School North. Tanner is a renowned alumnus of the Indiana University swimming & diving program and served as Jerden's inspiration to pursue a career in coaching. Jerden worked with Tanner from 2010 through 2014 as the co-head coach at Bloomington North during the 2013-14 school year while also serving as senior coach with the Counsilman Center Indiana Swim Team.