STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford men's swimming and diving program mourns the passing of Skip Kenney, program icon and one of the most successful head coaches in collegiate history. Kenney was 79.
"Skip is a true legend," said The Goldman Family Director of Men's Swimming and Diving Dan Schemmel. "He is without a doubt one of the most successful coaches of our generation and the influence he had on his student-athletes and this program lives on. We are extremely grateful for the passion and commitment he had for Stanford and our Cardinal Swimming and Diving family."
Kenney molded the Cardinal into a perennial NCAA contender in his 33 seasons at the helm, beginning with the 1979-80 campaign and closing out his career on The Farm in 2011-12.
Kenney guided Stanford to seven NCAA championships, highlighted by three-peats from 1985-87 and 1992-94, followed by a seventh crown in 1998. One of six Cardinal head coaches to win at least seven NCAA championships, Kenney led Stanford to 26 top-three finishes overall. Kenney mentored 134 All-Americans to 1,086 All-American honors while producing 72 NCAA individual champions and 10 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
A six-time NCAA Coach of the Year and 20-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year, Kenney led Stanford to an unprecedented 31 consecutive conference championships, a record for consecutive Pac-10 titles in any sport. Prior to winning its first Pac-10 title in 1982, Stanford last topped the conference in 1958-59.
Kenney was also a fixture on the international stage, serving as head coach of the U.S. Men's Olympic team in 1996 (Atlanta) and an assistant coach at the Summer Games in 1988 (Seoul) and 1984 (Los Angeles).
A native of Fresno, California, Kenney joined the U.S. Marines upon graduation, completed boot camp and served in Vietnam. A 1972 graduate of Long Beach State, Kenney was an assistant for the 49ers from 1968-71, before becoming the head coach at Harvard from 1971-72. Following AAU coaching stints, Kenney began his tenure at Stanford in 1979.
Kenney, who retired from coaching in 2012, was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame (2014), American Swim Coaches Hall of Fame (2005) and International Swimming Hall of Fame (2004).