After an 11-year spell which included the Cardinal’s 2017-19 three-peat of national titles, Tracy Slusser will step down from her position as associate head coach of the Stanford women’s swimming and diving program, Stanford Athletics announced Tuesday.
“It has been an absolute honor to lead this program for the past 11 seasons alongside [Director of Women’s Swimming] Greg Meehan,” Slusser said in a statement included in Tuesday’s press release.
In a statement of his own, Meehan described Slusser as “an amazing coach, mentor, colleague and friend.”
“Tracy’s passion to make a difference in the lives of these young women is unmatched and they are all the better for it,” Meehan said.
Each statement can be found in full in the Stanford Athletics press release, but neither coach could be reached for additional comments pertaining to either Slusser’s post-Stanford future or potential candidates the Cardinal may be lining up to fill the vacancy created by her exit.
Slusser’s final season at the helm alongside Meehan concluded with a third-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in March — the eighth time the Cardinal has finished in the top three nationally during Slusser’s time with the program. In February, Stanford also recorded its seventh Pac-12 conference title (2013, 2017-20, 2022-23) of Slusser’s tenure.
The departure of Slusser, who first came to the Farm as an assistant coach in 2012 before being named associate head coach in 2014, is the latest in a handful of personnel changes that will be on display when the team returns to the pool deck in the fall of 2023.
Last month, Meehan confirmed that freshman Claire Curzan and sophomore Torri Huske — the Cardinal’s leading point scorers at the most recent NCAA championships — would sit out the 2023-24 NCAA season, with both swimmers electing to take redshirt years in order to prepare for the 2024 Olympics.
Curzan and Huske are each vying for a spot on their second Olympic team following appearances at the 2021 Games in Tokyo, Japan. Since Tokyo, both swimmers have been key figures at major international competitions for Team USA, including winning seven medals apiece at the 2022 Short Course World Championships in December.
With fifth-year seniors and fellow NCAA scorers Taylor Ruck and Morgan Tankersley graduating, recruitment will likely be a key focus for Meehan and whomever is chosen to replace Slusser if the Cardinal hope to challenge the nation’s best once again.
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