PROVO -- BYU head swimming coach Tim Powers today announced that longtime Cougar women's assistant Shari Skabelund will be serving as an assistant coach on BYU's newly combined coaching staff working with both men's and women's teams. Powers also announced he has completed his staff with the addition of former Cougar swimmer Tamber McAllister as a part-time assistant coach.
"I'm pleased to have our coaching staff finalized and excited about what we can do together as a staff for BYU swimming and diving," Powers said. "Shari (Skabelund) is an excellent, proven coach who has been a significant part of our women's team's success for many years, and Tamber (McAllister) is a champion-caliber swimmer who adds to the talents of our staff."
Skabelund has worked as an assistant coach with the BYU women's swimming team the past 20 years, serving in a full-time position the last 12 seasons. Previously, she was the head coach of the boys' and girls' teams at Springville High School from 1982-87. At Springville, she guided the girls' team to state titles in 1985 and 1986 and a second-place finish in 1987 while her boys' team placed fourth in 1987.
Skabelund was named the BYU Assistant Coach of the Year in 2005 at the Athletic Department's annual Y Awards. She swam at BYU under Coach Powers before graduating in 1981 and holds the distinction of being the first female swimmer to complete four years of eligibility as a Cougar.
McAllister swam for BYU from 2000-04 after being named a three-time All-American and 2000 Sierra Nevada Swimmer of the Year out of Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, Calif. She went on to set several records at BYU as a five-time Mountain West Conference Champion breaststroker. She set a pool record in her first-ever college competition and also broke the MWC meet record in the 200-yard breaststroke as a freshman. A two-time qualifier for the NCAA Championships, McAllister won the MWC 200 breaststroke all four years and also claimed the 100 breaststroke crown once.
"Shari and Tamber, along with Stan (Crump), Keith (Russell) and John (Brooks), give us a very talented and experienced coaching staff," Powers said. "We look forward to the upcoming season."
BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe announced July 18 that BYU's men's and women's swimming teams were being combined under one coaching staff with longtime men's coach Powers serving as head coach. Longtime women's head coach Stan Crump serves as associate head coach, while diving coach Keith Russell continues to direct the efforts of both the men and women divers. John Brooks, who coached the UNLV men's and women's teams the past two seasons as an assistant on the Rebels' combined staff, joins Skabelund as a full-time assistant coach on Powers' staff.