Hawaii Turns to Alum Steve Allnutt as New Head Coach
The University of Hawaii has hired Steve Allnutt as its new head coach, bringing a former Rainbow Warrior back to Hawaii.
Allnutt swam from 2007-11, helping Hawaii win the 2011 Conference USA title. He finished in the top five at the conference meet in three distance events and competed in USA Swimming’s open water nationals that year.
Allnutt arrives after two seasons as an assistant coach at San Jose State. He will oversee the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams. He replaces Michael Stevens, who spent two years in charge of the Rainbow Warriors.
“It is with gratefulness and excitement that I begin this journey leading the UH Swimming & Diving program,” Allnutt said in a university statement. “Thank you to Craig Angelos, and the search committee for showing faith in me to continue the unique and outstanding traditions of the Rainbow Wahine and Rainbow Warriors. This program has a special place in the diving and swimming world, and with the great support of the Hawai’i Athletics Department, we will continue an exemplary well-rounded student-athlete experience for our divers and swimmers. With respect to the past and future of this one-of-a-kind program, our team will work every day to represent ourselves, our families, our University, and the GREAT state of Hawai’i by spreading Aloha to the worldwide swimming and diving community.”
Allnutt has spent the last decade coaching Mountain West programs. He spent two seasons at San Jose State, leading the distance squad to a second-place result in the inaugural MPSF Open Water Championships. He is a championship committee member for that groundbreaking event.
Allnutt worked at San Diego State for eight seasons, four as an assistant coach and four as an associate head coach. The Aztecs women won four Mountain West titles (2015, 2019, 2020, 2022) with an 85-2 dual-meet record and sent 30 Aztecs to the NCAA Championships. SDSU topped out with 12 entries and 39th-place finish in 2015.
“We are thrilled to welcome Steve back to the UH swimming and diving family,” Hawaii Athletic Director Craig Angelos said. “We had a great pool of candidates to choose from and he really distinguished himself during the process. The fact that Steve is a former Rainbow Warrior swimmer here is an extra bonus for us. We look forward to great things from him as he takes our reigning men’s and women’s conference championship program to even greater heights.”
A native of Forest Grove, Oregon, Allnutt coached for two years as a volunteer assistant upon his graduation in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and exercise science. He obtained a master’s degree in kinesiology with a focus on research in swimming biomechanics at UH in 2014.