Margo Geer - Swimming & Diving Coach

Margo Geer

Title:
Head Coach
Phone:
205-348-0977

Personal Information

Hometown: Milford Center, Ohio
Education: Arizona, 2014
Spouse: Eric
Birthday: March 17

Coaching Experience

2021-present: Alabama, Head Coach
2020-21: Alabama, Assistant Coach
2016-17: Ohio State, Volunteer Coach

Playing Experience

Mission Viejo Nadadores
2014-15: USA National Team
2010-14: University of Arizona

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.”

“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.”

Alabama (2020-Present)

A long-time member of the USA National Team, Margo Geer joined The University of Alabama’s coaching staff for the 2020-2021 season and was elevated to head coach prior to the 2021-2022 season.
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, Kalia Antoniou and Morgan Scott cap off the Tide’s historical run by winning the 400 freestyle relay, just the third Alabama relay title and the first by the women’s program
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 Rhyan 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 Diana Petkova in Tokyo, giving UA a trio of swimmers at the Olympiad.
Internationally, White, Petkova, 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.
In her first season as head coach, 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 14^th at NCAA’s. The men and women would see a combined 17 swimmers and divers earn 58 All-America honors.
At the 2022 SEC 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, every swimming record but one (the 400 individual medley) was held by a member of the 2021-22 team.
White, Petkova, Antoniou and Kensey McMahon all earned berths at the 2022 FINA World Long Course Championships in Budapest.
The 2022-2023 season saw the Crimson Tide men and women set 12 additional school records in Geer’s second season at the helm, with both programs posting top-20 national finishes.
Alabama recorded five additional Southeastern Conference titles in 2023, including Charlie Hawke posting the sixth-fastest time in the nation that season.
December 2022 brought more international action for the Tide as McMahon and Petkova traveled to Melbourne to compete at the 2022 World Aquatics Short Course Championships, with McMahon earning her first career international medal, taking bronze in the 1500-meter freestyle.
The women’s program continued to make history as McMahon won two NCAA titles in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle respectively. It marked the first time since 2004 that a UA woman had won an individual National Championship.
White made history in the 100 backstroke at the 2023 SEC Championships, becoming the first woman to four-peat the same event. She also helped lead the Alabama women to their third-straight SEC title in the 200-medley relay and second-fastest time in conference history.
The men’s program posted its ninth-consecutive top-20 NCAA finish, while the women posted their third-consecutive top-15 finish.

Ohio State (2016-2017)

Prior to joining the Alabama staff, Geer served as a volunteer coach for Bill Dorenkott and the Ohio State women in 2016-2017
She helped lead the Buckeyes to a fifth-place finish at the Big 10 Championships, along with its second top-20 national finish in five years

Professional Career

Competed for the Mission Viejo Nadadores during her professional career
Long-time member of the USA National Team
Earned international medals as part of Team USA at the 2015 World Championships, 2018 Pan Pacific Championships, the 2019 World Championships and the 2019 Pan American Games
Retired from professional swimming in early 2021

College and Personal Information

A native of Milford Center, Ohio
Swam collegiately at Arizona from 2010-2014
With the Wildcats, Geer earned 27 All-American honors, was named PAC-12 Woman of the Year and named a finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year
Won two NCAA titles in the 100 freestyle, one in the 50 freestyle and one as a member of the Wildcats’ 400 freestyle relay, setting a new American record in the process
Named 2014 PAC-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was a three-time PAC-12 All-Academic honoree