Jeff Cavana, a former head coach of the LSU Swimming and Diving program for four seasons, died this week. He was 67.
Cavana became LSU’s head swimming coach in August of 2000 after serving as an assistant coach for the Tigers for 10 seasons. Cavana joined LSU as an assistant to then-head coach Rick Meador in 1989. He was promoted to head coach of the Tiger swimming program when Meador stepped down in 2000.
As a head coach and assistant coach, Cavana helped lead the LSU women’s team to a top-20 national ranking in nine of his 16 seasons, while the men’s team has achieved seven top-20 finishes in the national rankings.
Cavana was a vital component of the LSU coaching staff after he joined the Tigers’ staff. He played a significant role in helping establish LSU swimming as an up-and-coming program. The LSU women enjoyed a top-25 national ranking in 13 of his 15 seasons and nine times, they finished in the top 20. The men finished in the top 20 seven times.
Recognized nationally as an outstanding swimming coach, Cavana received international acclaim for participating in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He was selected as the Olympic swimming coach for Jamaica and helped lead former LSU All-American Sion Brinn to a fourth-place finish in the B-final of the 100-meter freestyle competition.
He joined the LSU coaching staff after serving as the head coach at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, for seven years. While at Wright State, he piloted the Raiders to a fourth-place finish in the NCAA Division II Championships. In 1987, Cavana led Wright State into its first-ever season versus NCAA Division I competition.
Cavana was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated from Bellevue High School in Bellevue, Ky. He attended Western Kentucky University as a four-year letterman on the swimming and diving team. He was a natural leader and was named the team captain in his senior season.
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I coached him as a youngster