BATON ROUGE, La. – Brogan Barr, the former head coach of the Siena women’s swimming and diving program the last four seasons, was named an assistant coach on the LSU swimming and diving staff, head coach Rick Bishop announced Thursday.
“We look forward to having Brogan join the LSU Swimming and Diving program,” Bishop said. “As a former head coach, Brogan brings a wealth of experience in the holistic development of the student-athlete. Having helped her Siena team achieve the highest GPA in team history and earn significant success in the pool, Brogan will be a great addition supporting our continued pursuit of success both in the pool and in the classroom.”
Barr, a native of Pueblo West, Colorado, demonstrated exceptional leadership at Siena, culminating in a highly successful stint as the Saints’ head coach. Under her guidance, the team achieved record-breaking accomplishments, surpassing the highest number of school records broken in one season since 2011 and the most dual meet wins (2022-23) in the same period. In the postseason, Barr led the Saints to their first individual MAAC Champion since 2011 and the highest point total at the MAAC Championships since 2016.
“I am very grateful to Head Coach Rick Bishop for this opportunity and beyond excited to be part of the LSU swimming and diving family,” Barr said. “To work with and learn from the superb coaching staff Coach Bishop has assembled is a privilege, as is the chance to play a role in the development of our outstanding student-athletes. I cannot wait to get to work in Baton Rouge!”
In a season of firsts, Barr also oversaw Siena’s improvement outside of the pool and in the classroom. The student-athletes raised their cumulative GPA from 3.3 in Fall 2020 to 3.78 in Fall 2023, a program record for the Saints.
In four total seasons at Siena, Barr coached her swimmers to 72 top-ten all-time performances, seven school records, five pool records, 25 All-MAAC swims, 42 top-16 (B-final) performances, and one major award winner.
Before assuming the head coaching role at Siena, Barr served as an assistant coach at Hamilton College. During her time in Clinton, NY, Barr was a part of 70 new all-time top-10 performances and five school records.
Barr previously served as an assistant men’s and women’s coach for two seasons at Division III powerhouse Williams College. During her tenure, both squads secured conference championships in each season. Additionally, the women posted a pair of top-three finishes, and the men achieved two top-10 rankings at the NCAA Division III Championships.
Barr assisted in the development of 10 Division III National Champions, 43 All-Americans, 46 NCAA qualifiers. The Ephs also broke a pair of Division III records and more than 20 school records during Barr’s tenure, and she coached five swimmers who qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials.
Barr began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Division III SUNY Potsdam during the 2014-15 season.
A 2014 graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, with a B.A. in biology and religion, Barr earned a Master of Science in Sport Management from the University of Florida in 2020. She was an all-conference performer for the Golden Gusties after finishing third in the 1,650-yard freestyle at the 2011 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships and holds numerous top-10 program times. Gustavus Adolphus finished in the top 20 nationally at the Division III level in all four seasons of swimming, capped by a program-best seventh-place finish in 2014.