(LEBANON, Ill., Aug. 13) – McKendree University swimming and diving head coach Jimmy Tierney has announced the additions of Nathan Townsend as assistant swimming coach and Kayley Alioto as the graduate assistant diving coach.
 
Townsend, a Kingwood, Tex. native, graduated in 2017 from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Tex. where he was All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) from 2015-17.
 
"I am super excited to be joining Head Coach Jimmy Tierney as the first ever full-time assistant at McKendree University. In just three years, he has helped create a team extremely talented in the pool and out of the pool. As the team is entering in its fourth year, I am excited to work alongside him in continuing to establish a championship environment. As their swim coach I will take on the responsibility to push the swimmers to hunt greatness in and out of the pool."
 
Prior to McKendree, Townsend was the assistant swim coach at Oklahoma Christian University, a Division-II program in Oklahoma City, Okla., from 2018-19 where he coached the Eagles to 143 lifetime best swims and the program's first NCAA B-cuts. He work alongside Olympic head coach Josh Davis in coaching the first conference champion and first conference newcomer of the year in the school history.
 
"My past coaching experience at Oklahoma Christian and University College Dublin has equipped me to create a positive team culture on their respective swim teams and provided me with a lot of new helpful skills, knowledge, and excitement about the sport of swimming," said Townsend.
 
At the club level, Townsend served as head coach of the Mills Branch Marlins Swim Team in his hometown of Kingwood. He also had a coaching stint at University College Dublin in Ireland under the work of former Irish Olympic swimmer Earl McCarthy from January-July 2018.
 
Kayley Alioto, a Madison, Wis. native, comes to McKendree as the new Graduate Assistant Diving Coach.
 
"Kayley is coming in with a completely open mind and is very eager to start coaching," said Graduate Assistant Swimming Coach Amanda Siehs. "I think she does have pretty big shoes to fill from the last coach, since he was the very first diving coach of this team and created a strong bond with the athletes, but I think Kayley has the determination to be a truly amazing coach."
 
Alioto's experience as a former diver for eight years and coaching at the Division-III level will help her in this new transition.
 
"The thing I love most about diving is the mental aspect of the sport," said Alioto. "Diving continuously challenges athletes to push themselves out of their comfort zone, while at the same time aiming for a certain level of perfection."
 
Alioto's accolades from University of Wisconsin – La Crosse support her credibility. She served as team caption and was named UW- La Crosse's Female Athlete of the Year her senior year (2018), and set several records for the program, including the three-meter 6 (regular) and 11 (championship) dives pool record, one-meter 11 dive school record, and three-meter 6 (regular) and 11 (championship) dives school record.
 
In the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), Alioto was the three-meter and one-meter diving champion (2017, 2018) and Diver of the Year (2017, 2018). In all four of her seasons at UW-La Crosse, she qualified for the NCAA Division-III Regional Qualifiers. She was a three-time NCAA Division-III national qualifier. She is a four-time NCAA All-American honors holder: 10th-place in the three-meter dive (2016), sixth-place in the three-meter dive (2017), and 14th-place in the one-meter and fourth-place in the three-meter (2018).
 
This is the first time Alioto has been living outside of her home state of Wisconsin. She attended University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and graduated in 2018. The time off between graduation and accepting the position at McKendree gave Alioto time to coach diving at her alma mater.
 
"I am looking forward to working with McKendree's talented group of divers," said Alioto. "There is a lot of untapped potential within the team that I am excited to explore and develop.
 
Alioto may be new to McKendree, but her tenacity and love for the sport is what makes her the right fit and addition to this staff.
 
"We are excited to welcome two very talented and passionate coaches into the Bearcat Swimming/Diving family. Both Nathan (swimming) and Kayley (diving) have very strong backgrounds in their respective sports," said head coach Jimmy Tierney. "We are so fortunate to have them bring their talents to McKendree. Our athletes will benefit tremendously from the energy they will bring."