Caitlin Hamilton is entering her fifth season at the helm of the Illinois State Swimming & Diving program. A native of Normal, Illinois, Hamilton was officially hired as the Redbirds’ head coach on May 13, 2019.
The Redbirds are coming off another strong campaign during the 2022-2023 season. Illinois State turned in 11 school records during the year and earned a third-place finish at the 2023 Valley Championships. At MVCs, the Redbirds took home five gold medals, the most for Illinois State at a single MVC championships in Hamilton's tenure. Meanwhile, senior Madyson Morse earned MVC Swimmer of the Year and sophomore Eva Reyes earned MVC Diver of the Year. It marked the first time that a single program swept MVC Diver and Swimmer of the Year honors since 2010 and the third time in program history.
Hamilton guided Morse to one of the most impressive campaigns in program history during the 2022-2023 season. Along with her Valley Swimmer of the Year honors, the second swimmer to win MVC Swimmer of the Year in Hamilton's tenure and the fourth in program history, Morse won three gold medals at the MVC championships. She took home the 200-yard IM title for the second straight season as well as a pair of first-time crowns in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke. In total, Morse won three gold medals, set a 100 Breast MVC record, broke the 200 Breast MVC Championship record, and contributed to four relay silver medals for the Redbirds at the 2023 Valley Championships.
Following the MVC championships, Morse won the 100-yard breaststroke at the CSCAA NIC championship, becoming the first Redbird in program history to win goal at that meet.
The 'Birds posted four relay silver medals at the MVC championships, with all four teams posting school records. Elsewhere, sophomore Emma Feltzer earned her first Valley title with a win in the 200 Free. On the boards, Reyes won the 1M Dive for the second straight season en route to her MVC Diver of the Year honors.
In the classroom, 11 Redbirds earned MVC Scholar Athlete Team selections while Morse, the Valley Scholar Athlete for the second straight year, Cassidy Carey and Emma Feltzer earned CSC Academic All-Distict selections during the 2022-2023 season. As a team, Illinois State earned CSCAA Scholar-Athlete All-America Team honors, posting the sixth-highest grade-point average among NCAA DI Women's Swim and Dive programs.
2021-2022 saw the Redbirds turn in a stellar season under Hamilton with Illinois State finishing as Valley Runner-Up at the MVC Championships. It was the program's highest team finish at MVCs since 2014.
At the 2022 Valley Championships, the Redbirds earned six All-MVC First Team Honors and seven All-MVC Honorable Mention selections. Meanwhile, the Redbirds won a Valley Diving and Swimming event for the first time under Hamilton. Freshman Eva Reyes won the 1M Diving title and earned MVC Freshman Diver of the Year honors. She grabbed first in 1M with an overall score of 300.45 while her mark of 267.80 was good for third in 3M. Junior Madyson Morse took home the 200 IM title for Illinois State with her personal best mark of 2:00.92.
During the 2020-21 season, Hamilton led Illinois State to fourth-place team finish where three Redbird swimmers earned All-MVC First Team honors. In addition to those on the First Team, five swimmers collected All-MVC honorable mention honors in their individual events.
In her first season at the helm, Hamilton helped guide the Redbirds to an improved fourth-place finish at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships. Hamilton coached eight Redbirds to all-conference honors, while Kierston Farley-Sepe became the program's first MVC Swimmer of the Year since 2004.
Since taking over the Redbird swimming & diving program, Illinois State has not only found success in the pool, but also in the classroom. During Hamilton’s first two seasons, ISU had 17 student-athletes earn a spot on the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team, while Emily Keebler has also taken home the conference’s Elite 17 Award. Following both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons and 2021-2022 seasons Hamilton’s teams have earned College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America honors. Morse was also named the 2022 Valley Scholar Athlete of the Year at the MVC Championships.
Hamilton, a Normal Community High School graduate, comes to Illinois State after completing her second season on the Indiana coaching staff, serving as an assistant swimming coach for both the Indiana men’s and women’s teams. For the first time in school history, both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams won the Big Ten team titles in 2018-19. The men's squad won the championship for the third-straight year, while the women's team won its first Big Ten team crown since 2011. Both teams were dominant at the league championships, with the men's team winning a total of total of 24 medals – 13 gold, six silver and five bronze - and the women's team winning a total of 14 medals – seven gold, one silver and six bronze.
At the NCAA Championships, Hamilton helped guide the men's team to back-to-back top-3 finishes for the first time in 44 years. The Hoosier men finished in third place, winning four NCAA Championships (Vini Lanza, 100 fly; Ian Finnerty, 100 breast; Andrew Capobianco, 3-meter; 400 medley relay) for the second-straight year. Over the course of the NCAA Championships, the Hoosiers had 13 individuals earn a total of 38 All-America honors.
Olympic gold medalist Lilly King highlighted the women's team's accomplishments at the 2019 NCAA Championships, becoming the first woman in NCAA history to win eight breaststroke titles, completing her four-year sweep of the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. As a team, Indiana placed ninth overall, earning the program's fifth-straight top-10 finish and 10th top-10 performance in school history at the NCAA Championships.
Hamilton came to Indiana from IUPUI, where she served as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s teams, as well as the recruiting coordinator for the women’s team. In 2017, Hamilton helped recruit the highest-ranked class in program history, with the men’s team ranked nationally. During her two years with the Jaguars, the team set 37 team records, posted six NCAA B time achievements and had two CSCAA Academic All-American teams.
Previous to IUPUI, Hamilton worked at Wyoming as an assistant coach of the combined program. While at Wyoming, she coached the mid-distance, distance and individual medley swimmers. During her tenure, the Cowboys finished third at the Western Athletic Conference Championships (M) and fourth at the Mountain West Conference Championships (W). Overall finishing the year with one NCAA qualifier, four Conference Champions, and eight NCAA B Cuts.
In the previous season, she worked as an undergraduate assistant coach for Purdue. With the Boilermakers, Hamilton worked mainly with the mid-distance freestyle and individual medley swimmers. The swimmers ended the season with a 25th place finish at NCAAs from seven swimmers qualifying. The Boilermakers also had a seventh place finish at the Big Ten Championships that year with two program and two freshman records broken. Hamilton also had roles in the Purdue athletic department as an intern for Purdue's Athletic Development Department, the John Purdue Club.
As a student-athlete at Purdue, Hamilton earned All-America honors in the 1,650 freestyle during the 2009-10 season. She also earned Honorable Mention All-America honors the following season. She was a two-time Second-Team All-Big Ten and three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. On the national scene, Hamilton was a two-time Olympic Trials qualifier in the 400 and 800-meter freestyle events.
Hamilton graduated from Purdue in the spring of 2014 with degrees in Movement and Sport Science and Public Health. In the spring of 2017, she graduated with a Masters of Kinesiology from Indiana.
What They Are Saying About Caitlin Hamilton:
“Caitlin Hamilton has meant a great deal to our women’s swimming team these past two years. Not only did she significantly contribute to a Big 10 team championship and individual NCAA titles by Lilly King, but she helped enhance our team culture to its highest levels ever. She will make a fantastic head coach and we look forward to following her progress in the future at ISU.” – Ray Looze, head men’s and women’s swimming coach at Indiana
“Caitlin Hamilton will do a tremendous job as a head coach. Even while she was a swimmer at Purdue, her knowledge, competitiveness, and interest in the sport were always evident. She has had great opportunities to develop as an assistant coach and has all the characteristics to be a great head coach at the Division I level. I’m really excited for Caitlin and I am sure she will have a huge immediate impact on the Illinois State swimming and diving program.” – John Klinge, head women's swimming and diving coach at Purdue
"Caitlin is a terrific coach and I am thrilled for her to be named the head swimming coach at Illinois State. She has grown immensely as a coach during her time at Purdue, Wyoming, IUPUI, and Indiana and has had the opportunity to work with fantastic head coaches during the past six years. Caitlin will have a tremendous impact on the development of the current and future Redbird student-athletes. Knowing her ties to the Bloomington-Normal area and passion for the sport, Illinois State swimming and diving definitely has a bright future." – Steve Paska, former head swimming coach at Illinois State
“Congratulations to Caitlin and to Illinois State on the selection of an amazing candidate. As an alumnus of ISU swimming, I am so excited for the future of this program. Caitlin will certainly bring her knowledge, her experience and her passion for swimming to these student-athletes. I had the pleasure of coaching Caitlin in her senior year of high school at Normal Community and have seen her competitive spirit, her desire to achieve and her excitement for the success of those around her first-hand. As a former coach of hers, I could not be more proud!” – Heather (Stout) Budak, head swimming coach at Normal Community High School
