PALO ALTO, CA – Olympic swimming great Pablo Morales, a 1987 graduate of Stanford University, has returned to his alma mater as an assistant men’s swim coach, head coach Skip Kenney announced on Thursday. Morales will assist 19th-year head coach Kenney and 15th-year assistant Ted Knapp in all phases of the program.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to have Pablo join our staff,” Kenney said. “Pablo was one of the best swimmers ever, and his knowledge of the sport will be an extremely valuable asset to our athletes.”
Morales won a gold medal (400m medley relay) and two silver medals (100m butterfly and 200m Individual Medley) at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and came back to win two golds (100m butterfly and 400m medley relay) eight years later at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He also held the world record (52.84) in the 100m butterfly from 1986-95.
At Stanford, Morales was a record 11-time NCAA champion from 1984-87. He was a four-time national champion in the 100 yard butterfly and 200 yard butterfly and three-time champion in the 200 yard Individual Medley in leading Stanford to three NCAA team titles (1985-87). Morales was also an Academic All-American in 1987, and was a co-winner of Stanford top athletic honor – “The Al Masters Award” – in 1987.
The current vice-president of Finis, Inc. and San Jose resident has been involved in coaching since 1989. Morales was the Stanford Masters Head Coach from 1989-90, a graduate assistant at Cornell in 1989-90 and 1990-91 (where he received his law degree in 1994) and an assistant coach for San Jose Aquatics from 1995-96.