Coach Casey Converse, Swimmer Chris Knaute Named to Air Force Athletics Hall of Fame
Swimming and diving coach Casey Converse and swimmer Chris Knaute are among six inductees to the Air Force Athletics Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022.
Converse spent 29 years coaching the Air Force men’s and women’s swimming teams – he coached boys teams from 1988-97, then exclusively the women’s team from 1997 until retiring in 2017. He posted a 305-202-2 record, including back-to-back NCAA Division II championships in 1995 and 1996 before ascending to Division I in 1997.
Converse guided 32 athletes to collect a total of 178 All-America honors, including 13 individual and four relay national championships. In 2016, Genevieve Miller became the first women’s service academy swimmer to score at the Division I NCAA championships.
Knaute graduated from the academy in 2007. He still holds four school records – the 200 freestyle, 500 free, 1,650 free and 400 individual medley. The 500 free and 400 IM are still Mountain West records.
A two-time All-American, Knaute won nine Mountain West championships and was twice the conference swimmer of the year. He’s the only four-time team MVP in program history. He won Air Force’s 2006 Outstanding Athletic Achievement Award and 2007 Athletic Excellence award. In the pool, he competed at trials for the 2005 World Championships and 2008 Olympics.
Joining the two swimmers in the Air Force Athletics ninth Hall of Fame Class are late track and field coach Ralph Lindeman, hockey player Jacques Lamoureux, football player Beau Morgan and women’s track and field athlete Sara Neubauer. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be Sept. 24 at Cheyenne Mountain Resort.
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a great big CONGRATULATIONS Casey and Chris!!!