AUBURN, Ala. – Every time Ryan Wochomurka walks onto the pool deck at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center, he's drawn to the championship banners hanging from the rafters – banners he helped hang when he was a swimmer at Auburn from 2001 to 2005.
Last April, Wochomurka was hired to lead the same Auburn swimming and diving program where he won those NCAA and SEC championships nearly two decades ago.
"For me, on a personal and professional level, it's a dream come true to be back here in a place that is incredibly meaningful to me and helped to provide me such a phenomenal experience as a student-athlete," Wochomurka said. "So the opportunity to come back and now be the facilitator of that same type of high-level experience for a student-athlete is extremely exciting."
When he retired as a swimmer in 2005, Wochomurka went into the coaching realm where he continued to obtain major successes at Louisville and Houston, leading those programs and student-athletes to numerous titles, records and championships. His leadership also shined outside of the pool with his student-athletes earning All-Conference and CSCAA Scholar All-American honors.
Despite his continued success from his time as a swimmer to now, Wochomurka has seen a shift in the world of collegiate athletics since he was a student-athlete himself.
"The landscape and world of collegiate athletics has shifted and changed dramatically," the 21-time All-American said. "Certainly, in the last 20-25 years, but even in the last 12-18 months we've seen fundamental transformation of the collegiate athletics model. It's an exciting time for our coaches and certainly for our student-athletes as we really do our best to strive to give student-athletes the things that we really need to be competitive."
Looking to bring his previous successes to the Auburn program, Wochomurka's expectations for Auburn's swimming and diving program are things he prided himself on as a student-athlete and things he made sure to implement as a coach of two successful programs prior to Auburn.
- Have a great attitude.
- Give great effort.
- Be great teammates.
"If we win on those three things, the things that we'll see in the performances or that we'll see in the pool are just a manifestation of that," Wochomurka said.
An Auburn man at heart, Wochomurka knows what this program is capable of. He will forever be a part of the tradition and success Auburn has had, and now the goal is to get back to that.
"In the historical context of this place and this program, we are an elite blue blood program in swimming and diving that provides great opportunities," Wochomurka said.
"If you look at the world of swimming and diving, just about everything you can accomplish within our sport has been done here and has been born out of Auburn, Alabama at some point during the history of this team and program. So understanding and knowing that those things have been accomplished in this place really gives us the understanding that there's no ceiling to what we can do here."
Building the program back to where it once was will take time – and Wochomurka knows that – but there were plenty of encouraging signs for Auburn in the fall.
"We still have a fantastic program here, and we have phenomenal people, first and foremost," Wochomurka said. "We have phenomenal student-athletes that yes, they are incredibly talented in the pool, but they are fantastic people."
The Tigers are scheduled to return to the pool Saturday for a dual meet at Alabama. It's the first step toward championship season with the SEC Championships less than two months away.