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2 0 1 2 - 1 3 S w i mm i n g a n d D i v i n g Me d i a Gu i d e
the Dad’s Club YMCA of Houston, Texas, during the 1986-87 season.
Walker graduated from Texas A&M University in 1984 with a degree in
recreation and parks. At Texas A&M, he swam for an Aggies team that
finished 26th and 31st at the NCAA Championships during his junior and
senior seasons, respectively.
During his two years in College Station, Texas, he set school records in
the 500, 1000 and 1650 free and the 400 IM, qualifying for the NCAA
Championships.
Prior to Texas A&M, Walker swam at National Junior College Athletic
Association (NJCAA) power Indian River Community College in Fort
Pierce, Fla., where he set NJCAA records in the 500, 1000 and 1650 free
and the 4x100 and 4x200 free relays.
He was a seven-time All-
American at Indian River
and is in the NJCAA Hall
of Fame. He is also in the
Indian River Community
College and Eastridge
(Ill.) High School Hall of
Fames.
Walker competed at the
1980 Olympic Trials
but couldn’t compete in
the Olympics because
of the U.S. boycott, and
he qualified for the
1984 Olympic Trials but
retired just prior to the
event. He was a silver
medalist at the Olympic
Sports Festival in 1979,
participated in the 1978
USA Olympic Training
Camp and held a top 50
world ranking in the 1500
meter freestyle in 1981.
He led the U.S. to a World Aquatics Championship in 1998 in Australia
and fourth place finishes in 2001 and 2003.
Walker served a seven-year term on the NCAA Swimming and Diving
Committee and took the lead in the process to place open water swimming
in the 2008 Olympic Games in Bejing, China, a dream that was realized
with the announcement in 2006.
In the summer of 2005, Walker coached the U.S. National Open Water
Swim Team to a fourth-place finish at the World Championships in
Montreal, Quebec. The U.S. team tallied 72 points in the event, finishing
one point out of trophy contention.
For their efforts at the World
Championship, Walker and his
coaching staff were awarded the
Glenn S. Hummer Award from
USA Swimming. The award was
given Sept. 16, 2005 at the USA
Swimming House of Delegates
meeting in Greensboro, N.C. This
was the second time Walker earned
this award.
Walker lives in Carbondale with his
wife Eileen. He has two children,
Kyle and Kelsie. Kyle is a thrower on
the SIU track team.
Walker’s Coaching Record
Dual Meets
Season
W
L
MVC/MAC NCAA
1992-93
1
5
--
25th
1993-94
4
7
--
---
1994-95
10
7
1st
33rd
1995-96
8
7
1st
---
1996-97
3
6
1st
---
1997-98
5
4
1st
---
1998-99
3
7
1st
---
1999-00
7
2
2nd
---
2000-01
5
0
2nd
---
2001-02
4
2
1st
---
2002-03
3
4
2nd
---
2003-04*
5
3
1st
---
2004-05*# 11
9
2nd/2nd
---
2005-06*
9
9
2nd/2nd
---
2006-07
14
5
1st/4th
---
2007-08
8
6
2nd/4th
---
2008-09
7
4
3rd/4th
---
2009-10
9
6
3rd/5th
---
2010-11
10
9
3rd/3rd
---
2011-12
10
10
3rd/3rd
Total
136
112
---
---
* - MVC Invitational Meet held simultaneous-
ly and independently of MVC Championships
# - Walker’s first year of coaching both men
and women
- Men competed in the Sun Belt from 2004-09
- Men have competed in the Mid-American
Conference since the 2009-10 season.
Walker served as the Egyptian swim coach at the 2012 London Olympics.