Former Tiger swimming great, 2012 Olympic gold medalist and 15-time All-American Tyler McGill is currently in his third season as an assistant coach at his alma mater.
A 2010 Auburn graduate, McGill joined the Auburn staff prior to the 2013-14 season. McGill was also a gold medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics in Londonby swimming in the preliminaries for the winning U.S. team in the 4x100-meter medley relay. He also placed sixth in the 100-meter butterfly at the same Olympics after earning the second-fastest time (51.32) at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. McGill is the Auburn record-holder in the 100 fly (long course and short course) with a time of 44.63 and he wrapped up his competition career last week at the U.S. Open with bronze medals in the 100 fly and 50 free.
"I'm excited to make the transition from being in the water every day to being on deck and helping out," McGill said. "This is a place that I know and love. To be able to represent Auburn as a coach now is an honor. It's certainly a challenge that I'm looking forward to, but I couldn't be happier to be representing my alma mater and a great university."
Throughout his four years as a swimmer for Auburn, McGill not only racked up the All-America honors, but he also was a two-time NCAA champion (400 FR, 400 MR) and an SEC champion (800 FR). His senior season alone accounted for five All-America honors (200 FR, 200 IM, 400 MR, 200 MR, 100 Fly), and he had five top-10 individual times on the Auburn squad during that season.
McGill had the fastest time on the team in the 100 (46.00) and 200 fly (1:44.04), as well as the 200 IM (1:44.40) in his final collegiate year. He was also the fifth-fastest Tiger swimmer in the 200 free (1:37.34) and 10th-best in the 100 back (48.96), all giving him the cut time needed to compete in the NCAA Championships.
The Illinois native earned his first trip to the FINA World Championships in 2009, where he finished seventh in the 100m fly (51.42) and also swam in the 50m fly. At the USA Nationals in that same year, McGill placed second in the 100m fly (51.06), which gave him the spot at Worlds.
McGill made a return trip to the World Championships in 2011, where he won a bronze medal in the 100m fly, his first individual medal in world competition.
"Tyler has always been an incredible athlete," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "He's always had an uncanny ability to relate to the student-athletes, so I recognized that early in his career. Even from the moment he was a freshman here, he was inspiring the older athletes. I think he's going to be great in terms of transferring the information and skills across to the next generation of athletes. They'll buy in to what he's selling because he's such a believable athlete. He's just a good person to have around."
As a junior at Auburn, McGill earned six of his 15 All-America honors and was a member of the national champion 400 medley relay squad that finished in 3:01.39, a new NCAA record. He also finished runner-up in the 100 fly in 44.63, after swimming a school-record 44.67 in prelims.
At the SEC Championships in 2009, McGill was a member of the 800 free relay team that took home first place in a school-record time of 6:18.15. He also was runner-up in the 200 IM in an Auburn-record time of 1:43.39.
Back in high school, McGill attended Champaign Central and swam for Storm Aquatics under coach Will Barker, where he was a twelve-time All-American and the Swimmer of the Year for Illinois Swimming Inc. He was also a three-time state champion and holds the Central High School record in two events.
McGill is married to the former Julianne McLane, a former Auburn swimmer, and the couple has a daughter, Ameila.