Following the retirement of Richard Sybesma, after almost four decades at TCU, Chris Del Conte, TCU director of intercollegiate athletics, has announced Sam Busch as the new head swimming and diving coach for the Horned Frogs.
Busch graduated from Arizona in 2008 and assisted at Tucson Ford Aquatics for five seasons.
According to a TCU news release, Busch comes to TCU from Virginia where he has served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the last four years. During his time there, the women’s team earned a No. 1 national ranking and won three consecutive ACC Championships (2014-16). The release states that, under Busch, the Cavaliers set 18 women’s school records and 10 men’s marks.
Before his four-year stint at Virginia, Busch served two seasons (2011-13) as an assistant coach at Auburn, helping lead the men’s 200 free relay to the 2013 NCAA Championship. He has had additional experience working at West Virginia (2009-11) and Arizona (2007-09).
“When the opportunity to usher in a new era of TCU swimming and diving was offered to me, I accepted the honor with great enthusiasm and heartfelt gratitude,” Busch said in the release. “I am so humbled to become a part of the tremendous athletics success at TCU and am already at work trying to make sure I am worthy of the confidence that has been placed in me. Go Frogs!”
It seems that swimming and coaching run in the family, as Busch’s father, Frank Busch, recently retired as USA Swimming’s National Team Director, and his brother, Augie Busch, was head coach at Virginia the past four years and now works as head coach at Arizona.
“We are very excited to welcome Sam to the TCU family and Fort Worth,” Del Conte said in the release. “Sam is a perfect fit for us. He comes from a tradition-rich Virginia program in which he played a major role in their recruiting and team success. He is also part of a great family coaching tree. We have no doubt Sam will have the Horned Frogs Factor in leading our swimming and diving programs.”