Cliff Murray

Last updated
Cliff Murray
Cliff Murray coach.jpg
Current position
TitleHead Coach
TeamNorthern Lights Swim Club
ConferenceAlaska Swimming
Biographical details
BornFebruary 14, 1970
Fairbanks, Alaska
Alma mater University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1991-1993Midnight Sun Swim Team AC
1991-1993 West Valley High School AC
1993-1997 West Valley High School
1993-1998Midnight Sun Swim Team
2007-2012 East Anchorage High School
2015-Present South Anchorage High School
1998-PresentNorthern Lights Swim Club
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
  • Alaska Swimming Sr Coach of the Year 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2016
  • 2005 ASCA Alaska Age Group Coach of the Year
  • 2013 USA Swimming Outstanding Service Award
  • 2017 ASCA Age Group Coach of the Year nominee
  • 2018 Alaska Swimming Age Group Coach of the Year

Clifford Murray (February 14, 1970) is an American swimming coach from Alaska. Murray is best known as the head coach of Northern Lights Swim Club (NLSC) [1] in Anchorage, Alaska. Murray is also the current head coach of the South Anchorage High School Swimming & Diving Wolverines(SAHS).

In Fairbanks, Alaska Murray has served as the assistant coach of Midnight Sun Swim Team (MSST). [1] beginning in 1991. In 1993 Murray earned the head coach position at MSST until moving to Anchorage in 1998. Murray has been the head coach of NLSC since moving to Anchorage.

Murray has been awarded the Alaska Swimming Senior Coach of the Year [2] five times (1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2016) and was presented the USA Swimming Outstanding Service Award [2] in 2013. In 2017 Murray was named as a nominee for the American Swim Coaches Association Age Group Coach of the Year, and in 2018 he was recognized as Alaska Swimming's Age Group Coach of the Year. [3]

Alaska Swimming has had ten swimmers qualify for the US Olympic Trials...Murray has been the club coach for three of them (Maria Reeves, Micha Burden, Samantha Wicks).

Murray recently led Northern Lights Swim Club as the first team to 5 state championships in a row (2016 Alaska Long Course Champs, 2017 Alaska Sr Champs, 2017 Alaska Age Group Champs, 2017 Alaska Jr Olympic Champs, and 2017 Alaska Long Course Champs) while also winning its area championship (2016 Central Area Champs). The 5 meet sweep, from 2016 AK Long Course Champs through 2017 AK Jr Olympics, has been dubbed "The Northern Lights Sweep".

Murray is known as "The Godfather" of Alaska Swimming and is the longest-tenured head coach in Alaska Swimming.

Related Research Articles

David Wilkie (swimmer) British swimmer, Olympic gold medallist, world champion, former world record-holder

David Andrew Wilkie is a Scottish former competitive swimmer who was Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion in the 1970s. He is the only person to have held British, American, Commonwealth, European, world and Olympic swimming titles at the same time and was the first British swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal since Anita Lonsbrough in 1960.

British Swimming


British Swimming is the national governing body of swimming, water polo, synchronised swimming, diving and open water in Great Britain. British Swimming is a federation of the national governing bodies of England, Scotland, and Wales. These three are collectively known as the Home Country National Governing Bodies.

Jeremy Linn American swimmer

Jeremy Porter Linn is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Linn set an American record in the 100-meter breaststroke while winning the silver medal in that event at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He has recently been selected to be inducted in the Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame with the class of 2017.

Ronald Brian Jacks was a Canadian Olympic and international swimmer in the 1960s and 1970s. He is currently a leading coach for Canadian swimmers such as Richard Weinberger through the Pacific Coast Swimming Club.

David Marsh is the head coach of Team Elite in San Diego, California, and the ‘Professional Adviser’ of the Israel Swimming Association. He is also the head swim coach for University of California San Diego, an NCAA Division II program, as of the 2017-18 school year.

Jack Bauerle is the head coach of the University of Georgia (UGA) men's and women's swimming teams. In the spring of 2017, he finished his 39th year as a head coach for the UGA women's team and his 32nd year as men's head coach. Bauerle began coaching the women's team in 1979 and later became head coach for the men's team as well in 1983. He has three children John, Magill and Duke who have followed in Jack's footsteps.

Beth Anne Botsford is an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who won two gold medals as a fifteen-year-old at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. She did so in the individual 100-meter backstroke, and as a member of the women's relay team in 4×100-meter medley.

Melanie Jayne Marshall is a former British swimmer. She has won numerous medals for her country as well as being a swimming coach of the year for her work with Adam Peaty in Derby and later Loughborough.

Katinka Hosszú Hungarian swimmer

Katinka Hosszú is a Hungarian competitive swimmer specialized in individual medley events. She is a three-time Olympic champion and a nine-time long-course world champion. She is owner of a Budapest based swim school and swim club called Iron Swim Budapest, and co-owner and captain of Team Iron, founding member of the International Swimming League.

Robert William Hackett, Jr. is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. He represented the United States at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec as a 16-year-old, where he won a silver medal in the men's 1500-meter freestyle, finishing behind U.S. teammate Brian Goodell.

Metropolitan Swimming (MR) is the governing body for competitive swimming in the New York Metropolitan Area. It is an LSC member of USA Swimming and the Eastern Zone. Most of the athletes who compete in Metro-sponsored swim meets are youths under the age of 18. However, there are also opportunities for older members of the swimming community to compete.

Arthur Byron MacDonald is an American Canadian swimming coach who helms the Toronto Varsity Blues swim teams at the University of Toronto. He is a former swimmer who competed for Canada in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. MacDonald placed sixth in the final of the men's 100-metre butterfly, and also competed in the preliminary heats of the 200-metre butterfly, but did not advance. He had suffered an acute hernia at the Opening Ceremonies, two days before competition, but doctors pushed the hernia "back into place".

Renee A. Laravie, also known by her married name Renee Kelly, is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in the breaststroke.

Greater Ottawa Kingfish Swim Club is a non-profit, competitive swim club operating in Ottawa, Canada. The club has over 100 athletes in its competitive program, as well as over 100 swimmers in its pre-competitive Junior Group program. The club is affiliated with the University of Ottawa Gee Gees.

Fiona Doyle Irish swimmer

Fiona Doyle is an Irish swimmer. She represented Ireland in the 2016 Rio Olympics swimming in the 100M and 200M Breaststroke. In 2013, she competed in the 100m event at the World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona where she finished eleventh overall. She won a silver medal in the 100 m breaststroke at the 2013 Summer Universiade. In recognition of her achievements she was awarded Swim Alberta Female International Swimmer of the Year 2012/2013, University of Calgary female Athlete of the Year 2013 and SwimIreland High Performance Athlete of the Year 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Randy Bennett was a Canadian swimming coach who primarily operated out of the West Coast of Canada during his career. From 2009 until his death in 2015 he was the coach of the Canadian National Swim Team including during the 2012 Summer Olympics where his protege Ryan Cochrane won his second Olympic medal. Over the years he has coached several prominent Canadian athletics including World and Olympic medalists such as the aforementioned Cochrane, Julia Wilkinson, Richard Weinberger, Eric Hedlin, Hilary Caldwell, Marianne Limpert, Blake Worsley and many others.

Nottingham Leander Swimming Club

Nottingham Leander Swimming Club is a volunteer run competitive swimming club in Nottingham.

Schuyler Bailar American swimmer

Schuyler Bailar is an American swimmer, and the first openly transgender NCAA Division I swimmer. He is also the first publicly documented NCAA D1 transgender man to compete as a man in any sport. He was recruited by Harvard University and swam on the Harvard Men's Swimming and Diving team under coach Kevin Tyrrell; he was a member of the Harvard Class of 2019. Bailar was originally recruited in 2013 as a member of the women's team by Harvard Women’s Swimming and Diving head coach Stephanie Morawski. After transitioning during a gap year, Bailar was also offered a spot on the men’s team by coach Tyrrell, allowing Bailar the choice of either team. He elected to swim on the men’s team.

Penny Oleksiak Canadian swimmer

Penelope Oleksiak is a Canadian competitive swimmer who specializes in the freestyle and butterfly events. During the 2016 Summer Olympics, she became the first Canadian to win four medals in the same Summer Games and the country's youngest Olympic champion, with a gold in the 100 m freestyle, a silver in the 100 m butterfly, and two bronzes in the women's freestyle relays. With her gold medal win, she became the first athlete born in the 2000s to claim an Olympic gold medal in an individual event.

SwimSwam news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. SwimSwam was named one of NBC Sports's 100 must-follow social media handles for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

References

  1. 1 2 "Northern Lights Swim Club : Coaches & Directors". www.teamunify.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  2. 1 2 "Alaska Swimming LSC : Annual Awards". www.teamunify.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  3. https://fitterandfaster.com/news/2017AgeGroupCoachOfTheYear?dm_i=488U,2C85,TZ3JJ,9KZJ,1