Oct. 22, 2002

Duquesne University Director of Athletics Brian Colleary announced today the hiring of Rick West as the new men's swimming coach. West comes to Duquesne after spending five months as the assistant men's swimming coach at Ohio State.

Prior to his stint at OSU, West spent the 2001-2002 academic year as the head coach of the men's and women's swimming teams at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, W.Va. He also worked as the aquatics director at Wheeling Jesuit and previously had been an assistant coach there as well.

Last season, West coached the Wheeling Jesuit men's team to an 11-3 dual meet record and a first-place finish in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships. His women's team finished second at the conference championships. In addition, he coached the men's and women's conference swimmers of the year in 2001-02 and was named the WVIACC Men's Coach of the Year. His student-athletes broke 10 school and 12 pool records last year while five student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships. The men's team finished 19th at the meet and had four swimmers receive All-America honors.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from West Liberty State College in 1997 after transferring from West Virginia Wesleyan College. A 1991 graduate of John Marshall High School in Glen Dale, W.Va., the 28-year-old West is completing a Master's Degree in education from West Virginia University.

The Dukes open the 2002-2003 season this Saturday, Oct. 26 as they host St. Bonaventure at noon at Towers Pool.