The College of Marin Department of Kinesiology & Athletics announced Victor Wales as the new Swim & Dive Team Coach. Wales takes over for Warren Lager who retired after holding the position for more than two decades.

Wales brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to College of Marin Athletics. Most recently, Wales served as the Head Swimming Coach at University of Hawaii at Manoa. He coached the Rainbow Warriors from 2005 through the 2016 season. During his tenure he produced four conference championships and coached eight individuals to berths at the NCAA National Championships.  

Wales attended UC Santa Barbara from 1988 to 1992 and earned his bachelor’s degree in political science. He swam for the Gauchos for four years under Coach Gregg Wilson. Wales was a two-time team captain at UC Santa Barbara, a 10-time Conference Champion and an All-American in 1990. To top it off, Wales qualified for the Olympic Trials in both 1988 and 1992.

Following his collegiate career, Wales embarked on his coaching journey beginning as an assistant coach at UC Santa Barbara from 1992-1996. He spent a year as an assistant at the University of Illinois before spending another year as an assistant at Santa Barbara. Following the 1997-1998 season, Wales took the position of head assistant for the men’s and women’s swim teams at Arizona State University. At ASU Wales coached numerous outstanding Sun Devils, including four All-Americans and three Olympians.

Wales moved west in 2001, taking the position of women’s swimming head coach at San Jose State University. He remained for five seasons and had 15 All-Conference academic selections during his tenure. 

 “I am very humbled and excited to become the new Head Coach for swimming and diving at College of Marin. I look forward to building upon the rich history and tradition created over the last 36 years by Coach Lager. I would like to thank Athletic Director Ryan Byrne, whose vision and leadership, inspired me to take this job. I look forward to working with the entire college of Marin community, and especially the student-athletes, in helping them achieve their goals,” said Wales.

Athletic Director Ryan Byrne stated, “Aside from his phenomenal experience in coaching elite student-athletes to perform at their very best, Victor has a tremendous understanding of what it takes for student-athletes to be successful in transferring to four-year institutions.”  Byrne added, “He’s been highly successful in building positive relationships with student-athletes and has a proven track record of academic and athletic success in his programs. We believe he will be an asset in and out of the pool in supporting students to reach their goals.”

Wales is married with three children. They moved to the Bay Area in 2016. After a few years away from coaching, Wales is ready to dive back in. The Mariners’ 2018 squad had a pair of swimmers make the state finals and both will be back for their sophomore seasons under Coach Wales.