2016 Olympian Ryan Held told Swimming World Monday that he was going to be moving from Bloomington, Indiana to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to train with Coley Stickels in the lead-up to the 2020 Olympic Trials. Held made the move to Bloomington in February after spending four years in Raleigh, North Carolina at NC State University.
Stickels recently got the head coaching position at the University of Alabama, replacing the retiring Dennis Pursley.
Held told Swimming World:
“It was really hard to leave IU because I was just getting into the swing of things. But I found success with Coley’s program so I believe it is the best option for me moving forward.”
Held won four national championships in relays and qualified for the 2016 Olympic Team in his career with the Wolfpack. He also helped lead NC State to top four finishes at NCAAs in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, as well as four ACC team titles. He will be training with Stickels down in Tuscaloosa as he prepares for the 2019 US National Championships this summer in Palo Alto, California after he missed out on making the World Championships team for this year after placing 8th in the 100 free at the 2018 Nationals.
Held will be aiming to make his second Olympic Team next summer in Omaha after he was on the gold medal winning 4×100 free relay team in Rio in 2016. Since the Olympics, Held won the gold medal in the 100 free at the 2017 World University Games and also won five medals, including four golds, at the 2018 World Short Course Championships in relays.
Since making the move to Bloomington in February, Held swam a 48.70 at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Richmond, not far off his 48.26 best time from the 2016 Trials.
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Claire Holloway