Austin Pillado was named an assistant coach for the Washington State Swimming program, head coach Russell Whitaker announced July 2.
Pillado comes to Pullman after working last season as an assistant coach on the National Champion Arizona State Men’s Swimming and Diving Teams and working the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Penn State.
“Austin is extremely innovative and brings an exciting twist to training. His experience at multiple power-5 ranked programs, and his experience at Arizona State with a national title under his belt, makes him extremely qualified to help lead Cougar Swimming into the future,” said Whitaker who was named the Cougars’ Head Coach May 23. “Austin will be an immediate asset to not only our sprint and breast stroke groups, but to our team and recruiting as well!
“Austin is one of the brightest young coaches in the country and has a promising future in this sport. From our first conversation, Austin has been extremely detailed and thoughtful in not only what he can do for this program, but all that is possible with this program, and what we will achieve in the near future as a team.”
Pillado served as an assistant coach with the Arizona State Swimming program last season, which saw the women finish No. 24 nationally and the men claimed their first National Championship in program history. The Sun Devil men were also crowned the 2024 Pac-12 champions for the second year in a row. Pillado primarily trained the breaststroke group, which saw four men go under the 52-second barrier, and assisted with the sprint group in Tempe. Pillado was able to work with some of the best athletes in the world, ranging from Simone Manuel, Ryan held, and Olivia Smoliga within the professional group at Arizona State.
“I am very excited to join the Cougar family & program at Washington State University,” Pillado said. “I would like to thank Russ Whitaker, Anne McCoy, and Brad Corbin for this amazing opportunity. I am looking forward to developing this team to achieve success at the highest level possible, both in and out of the pool. The vision that Russ and the entire athletic department have for this program is amazing, and I cannot wait to help this dream become a reality! Go Cougs!”
In his time with the Nittany Lions, Pillado worked primarily with the sprint freestylers and breaststrokers where PSU broke nine school records. In 2022-23 at NCAA Championships, Pillado coached Victor Baganha to an All-American finish in the 100 fly and the first All-American in that event for Penn State in 20 years.
Outside of Penn State, he served as an assistant coach for the Swedish national team for the European Championships in 2022. His other collegiate endeavors include as an assistant coach at Saginaw Valley State from 2020-21 where he coached the Male Freshman of the Year with seven school records being broken. Pillado started his coaching career as a volunteer assistant coach at Texas A&M (2017-20) where the Aggies won two SEC championships, had 11 conference champions and 33 All-Americans during his time on the coaching staff.
Pillado swam at Davis and Elkins College from 2013-17 and also competed in one season of track and field in 2017. At Davis and Elkins, he was named the Male Athlete of the Year in 2016. Pillado graduated with his bachelor's degree in Sports Management/Athletic Training in 2017 from Davis and Elkins College along with a master's degree in Sports Management from Texas A&M in 2020.
