Swimming & Diving
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Phone:
- 205-348-0977
Margo Geer has made an immediate and powerful impact on the Alabama swimming and diving program, including leading the Crimson Tide women to their highest national finish in program history and the men to their eighth-consecutive top-15 NCAA finish in her first season as head coach.
A long-time member of the USA National Team, Margo Geer joined The University of Alabama’s coaching staff for the 2020-21 season and was elevated to head coach prior to the 2021-22 season.
“We were fortunate to have an exceptional candidate right here in Tuscaloosa for this position and are thrilled to have Margo as our head coach,” UA Director of Athletics Greg Byrne said. “She has one of the most impressive lists of accolades, both at the collegiate and international level. I’ve known Margo for many years, and she is well-respected, talented and extremely hardworking.”
Geer began her time with the Crimson Tide as a volunteer coach and became a full-time member of the staff after she retired from professional swimming in early 2021.
“I am extremely excited to be the head coach of this great program,” Geer said. “Alabama is a very special place, and I have quickly come to love this team, the University, and the community since arriving on campus. There is so much talent and potential on this team, and the staff and I are fully committed to continuing to move the Crimson Tide forward on its journey to the top.”
In her first season as head coach, Geer continued to build on Alabama’s championship legacy. The Crimson Tide women earned its highest finish at the NCAA Championships in program history, taking fourth place with a school-record 288 points. The Alabama men would post their eighth-consecutive top-15 national finish, taking 14th at NCAAs. The men and women would see a combined 17 swimmers and divers earn 58 All-America honors.
At the Southeastern Conference Championships, the Tide men were second, their best finish since 1987, while the women were third, their best finish since 1994. The men and women combined to earn 23 medals at the conference meet, including 11 gold. Morgan Scott would go to be voted the SEC Female Swimmer of the Year by the league’s coaches.
Overall, the Crimson Tide broke 13 school records during the 2021-22 season. On the women’s side of the slate, every swimming record but one (the 400 individual medley) was held by a member of the 2021-22 team.
“I was so proud of the way our team worked hard and battled through adversity last season,” Geer said. “Our men and women made the most their opportunities all the way down the line and the results were extraordinary. More than anything, we have a great foundation to continue to build on as we move forward together.”
Internationally, Rhyan White, Diana Petkova, Kalia Antoniou and Kaique Alves competed at the 2021 FINA World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi, with White winning gold in the 200-meter backstroke title and taking silver as part of Team USA’s 200-meter medley relay, and Alves earning bronze as part of Brazil’s 800-meter freestyle relay. White, Petkova, Antoniou and Kensey McMahon all earned berths at the 2022 FINA World Long Course Championships in Budapest.
During her first season with Alabama in 2020-21, the UA women tied their highest national finish in school history and saw Cora Dupre, Flora Molnar, Antoniou and Scott cap off the Tide’s historical run by winning the 400 freestyle relay, just the second Alabama relay title and the first by the women’s program.
The Crimson Tide’s relay win closed a phenomenal week-long showing that ended with Alabama tying its best showing at the NCAA Championships, taking fifth place with a then school-record 266 points. Alabama bettered its previous high-point total by more than 80 points. In addition to tying its best NCAA Championships finish since 1983, it was the Tide women’s first top-25 finish since 2005 and first in the top-10 since 1994.
The Tide men posted their seventh-consecutive top-15 NCAA Championships team finish, taking 15th place at the national championships. Overall, 15 Tide men and women combed to earn 48 All-America honors in 2021.
At the 2021 SEC Championships, the men and women combined to win 10 gold medals, including four relay and six individual titles. In all, Alabama earned 20 gold, silver or bronze medals at the SEC Championships and Rhyan White won the SEC Commissioners’ Trophy and was named the SEC Female Swimmer of the Year.
As a program, Alabama broke 11 school records, including four relays in 2020-21, including the women’s 50, 100 and 200 freestyles and the 400 and 800 freestyle relays.
Taking over as head coach in May 2021, Geer and the Tide took more than a dozen swimmers to the U.S. Olympic Team trials, where White made the U.S. team in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstrokes, becoming the first UA woman to win an event at the U.S. Olympic Trials when she took first in the 200-meter backstroke. White finished fourth in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstrokes at the Tokyo Olympics and earned a silver medal as part of Team USA’s 400-meter medley relay contingent. White joined Antoniou and Petkova in Tokyo, giving UA a trio of current swimmers at the Olympiad.
Prior to joining the Alabama staff, Geer served as a volunteer coach for Bill Dorenkott and the Ohio State women in 2016-17. Geer helped lead the Buckeyes to a fifth-place finish at the Big 10 Championships, and just its second top-20 national finish in five years, led by two-time All-American Liz Li, who finished third in the 50 freestyle at the NCAA Championships.
As a member of Team USA, Geer medaled at the 2015 World Championships, the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships, the 2019 World Championships and the 2019 Pan American Games. At the Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru, she took home individual medals in the 100-meter freestyle (gold) and 50-meter freestyle (silver) as well as three relay golds.
Competing for the Mission Viejo Nadadores during her pro career, she also competed in the International Swim League (ISL). Geer competed for the LA Current under general manager Lenny Krayzelburg in the league’s inaugural season, while swimming for the DC Tridents under general manager Sandeno Kaitlin this season.
Competing at Arizona from 2010-14, she was a 27-time All-American, three-time NCAA Champion, Pac-12 Woman of the Year and NCAA Woman of the Year finalist for the Wildcats. She won two NCAA titles in the 100 freestyle and one in the 50 freestyle while also leading the Wildcats 400 freestyle relay to an American record in 2013.
A three-year team captain at Arizona, she was active in community outreach and earned the Pac-12 Tom Hansen Medal and was a semifinalist for the Wooden Citizenship Cup in 2014, honors that recognize student-athletes who excel in athletics, academics, community service and leadership.
In the classroom, Geer was named the 2014 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year was a three-time Pac-12 all-academic honoree. She graduated Cum Laude in 2015 with a degree in business management, earning Arizona’s Golden Eagle Award along the way.
An Ohio, native, Geer went to Fairbanks High School in Milford Center, Ohio.
