Wisconsin Badgers

As he enters his seventh season at the helm of the Wisconsin men's and women's swimming and diving programs, Yuri Suguiyama is looking to build on an already very successful tenure. Suguiyama has led the Badger men and women back to the upper echelon of the Big Ten and developed a host of Olympians, NCAA Champions and All-Americans.

• 3 NCAA Champions
• 29 Big Ten Champions
• 66 All-America Honors
• 49 School Records Broken
• 67-23 Dual Meet Record
• 3 Top-20 NCAA Finishes
• 3 Top-15 NCAA Finishes

In the 2023-24 season, the Badgers built upon previous success with fourth place finishes at Big Tens for both the men and women. The Badger women placed 15^th at the NCAA Championships where Senior Phoebe Bacon won her second NCAA title in the 200 backstroke. 12 other Badger women would go on to earn All-America honors. The men’s season was highlighted by its first Big Ten relay title in over 20 years with a win in the 200 free relay. Taiko Torepe-Ormsby, Dominik Mark Torok, and Yigit Aslan also won Big Ten titles in the 50 free, 400 IM, and 500 free respectively. Both Bacon (USA) and Torepe-Ormsby (New Zealand) would go on to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games with Bacon placing 4^th in the 200m backstroke and Torepe-Ormsby finishing 19^th in the 50m free.

The Badgers recorded one of their most successful seasons in 2022-23 with the Badger women placing 15th at the NCAA Championships while the UW men tied for 23rd. Both teams also finished fourth at the Big Ten championships. Wisconsin picked up 11 All-American honors for both men and women while the men's team broke five school records. Junior Jake Newmark won two big Big Ten titles and Junior Phoebe Bacon was named the Wisconsin Female Athlete of the Year. 

During the 2021-22 season, Suguiyama helped guide freshman Paige McKenna to an NCAA title in the 1650-yard freestyle. On the Big Ten level, Wisconsin earned fourth place finishes at both the men's and women's Big Ten championships. The year prior, UW checked in at fifth place in the 2021 Big Ten Championship for both the men and women.

In his first season, Suguiyama oversaw a Wisconsin women's program that produced six All-Americans, a group led by CSCAA National Swimmer of the Year Beata Nelson. Nelson won three national titles at the NCAA championships — the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley — and helped the Badgers to an All-America showing in the 800 freestyle relay.

Having established himself as one of college swimming’s top young coaches during a decorated run as an assistant, Suguiyama came to Madison after spending six years as Associate Head Coach of the men’s program at Cal, where he helped the Golden Bears to first- or second-place NCAA finishes in each of his seasons in Berkeley. That run included Cal's national title at the 2014 NCAA Championships.

In addition to his success in the NCAA, Suguiyama has built an impressive international coaching resume as well. He was named Special Assistant to the National Team Director for Team USA at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and also served as an Assistant Coach for the American squads at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships and 2015 World University Games. Following his Olympic assignment, Suguiyama served as men’s Head Coach for Team USA at the 2016 FINA Short Course World Championships. Most recently, he was an Assistant Coach for Team USA at the 2023 LEN Championships that took place in Dublin, Ireland.

Suguiyama’s time at Cal was preceded by a six-year run as a site coach for the Nation’s Capital Swim Club in Washington, D.C., where he mentored then 15-year-old Olympic champion Katie Ledecky, who claimed gold in the 800-meter freestyle at the 2012 Olympics in London. 

Himself a standout swimmer for Nation’s Capital Swim Club, Suguiyama went on to compete collegiately at North Carolina, where he finished his career as the Tar Heels’ record-holder in the 1000 and 1650-yard freestyle. He was a two-time ACC Champion in the 200 free and earned first-team All-America honors as a senior in the 400-meter free.

Suguiyama graduated from North Carolina in 2004 with degrees in political science and economics. He and wife, Abby, are the parents of Luke of Kai.