Arizona Swimming & Diving Head Coach Ben Loorz announced the hiring of Assistant Coach Kevin Blum on Oct. 9, 2024. He came to the University of Arizona from the University of Hawai'i.
In his first season with the Wildcats, Richardson helped lead a successful Arizona program that finished runner-up on both the men's and women's sides at Big 12 Championships and sent multiple athletes to NCAAs.
Blum also helped to guide 25 Arizona athletes to the Big 12 finals, pushing the Cats to be the runners-up on both the men's and women's side at conference championships. At this same championships, 17 Arizona athletes made the All-Big 12 first team and eight were awarded second team honors.
Also during Blum's first year with the Cats, 16 Arizona athletes qualified for the D1 NCAA Championships and 11 were then named to the CSCAA All-American Second Team. Blum also helped lead the program to four new school records and 16 top-ten program times during the 2024-25 season.
Blum joined the Wildcats in Tucson with extensive experience coaching in both the United States and Australia. He served as an assistant coach at Boston College from 2019-2021 before joining Hawaii's coaching staff in 2022.
"Ben has put together a staff with amazing experience and energy. I am grateful and excited to say 'Go Cats!'" Blum said at the time of his hiring.
Student-athletes competing under Blum's supervision saw great success; in his first year at Hawai'i, Blum played an instrumental role in leading the Rainbow Wahine to a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title in 2022-23.
Blum helped guide the men's and women's programs to break 15 school records from 2022-2024.
Before coaching at a collegiate level, Blum coached club swimming for nearly 20 years. Blum coached athletes to the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Trials and to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. He also coached athletes to break Junior National meet records in 2008 and 2010 and qualified athletes to represent the USA at the Junior Pan-Pacs, short course World Championships and World University Games.
"Coach K is a seasoned veteran. I love the fact that he has had success in both the club realm and the college realm," Loorz said at the time of his hiring. "It gives him great depth, and he's a great technician as well. I'm excited to see him thrive here at Arizona."
Blum has received numerous accolades during his coaching career. Blum was named to the coaching staff for the United States at the 2013 World University Games and was honored with the Victorian Open Water Coach of the Year award for 2015 in Australia.
In addition to these honors, Blum was also a recipient of the American Swim Coaches Award of Excellence for three straight years (2010, 2011, 2012).
Blum swam collegiately at California State University Northridge, where he received his Bachelor's degree in Recreation Management in 2003.
