Women's Swimming and Diving
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Phone:
- 719-238-0049
Colleen Murphy enters her eighth season as the head coach of the Air Force women’s swimming team in 2024-25. Murphy just completed her 12th season at the Academy where she was tabbed College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America's (CSCAA) 100 Greatest College Swimming & Diving Coaches of the past 100 years. After serving as an assistant coach her first four years, Murphy was the team’s associate head coach in 2016-17. Murphy replaced Keith “Casey” Converse, who retired after 29 years at the Academy.
Last season, Murphy guided Falcons to two Mountain West All-Conference honors and school records in two events. The season was highlighted by an impressive victory at the Liberty Invitational in Lynchburg, Virginia, in November following a score of 2540.00 to win the seven-team meet. In 2022-23, the Falcons earned five All-Mountain West selections following the Conference Championships, including Katie Andrist, Corbyn Cormack, Hanani Dona, Kai-Min Tsuei, and Abby Turner.
Andrist, racing in the 500 Free, qualified for the championship round of the event after a preliminary time of 4:52.06. The freshman would eventually finish fifth-overall in the finals swim after timing out at 4:53.05, earning All-Conference honors in the process. Her preliminary time now sits as the third-fastest time in the 500 Free in program history. Cormack finished seventh in the 100 Fly after timing out at 53.90, just a few moments short of her own school record in the event (53.57).
Dona's standout freshman season was capped by a time of 4:20.54 in the 400 IM, placing her sixth in the event's final swim. Dona's time now sits as the third-fastest time in Air Force history. Tsuei maintained year-long success after finishing fifth-overall in the 200 Back. The freshman's time of 1:58.13 not only awarded her All-Conference honors, but her finals swim became the second-best swim in the event in Falcons history.
In the 100 Freestyle, Turner became an All-Conference swimmer after a doing enough in the preliminary round for placement into the championship round. The sophomore placed sixth after ending the race to a time of 50.32. Turner's preliminary swim time of 50.16 becomes the third-fastest time in the event in Air Force history.
The Falcons concluded the 2022-23 season with a sixth-place finish at the Mountain West Championships as well as a 4-4 dual record, including head-to-head wins over Wyoming and Grand Canyon. In the classroom, the women's swimming and diving programs highlighted the Falcons success in the classroom, as the 23 selections to the Academic All-Mountain West Team were the most by any Mountain West affiliated program at Air Force. The swimming and diving teams were also named a Scholar All-America Team by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America. The Falcons, having posted a team GPA of 3.25 during the 2023 spring semester, were bestowed the honor of Scholar All-America Team during the 2022 fall semester as well.
Murphy led the the 2021-22 Falcons to a 6-7-1 overall dual mark and a seventh-place finish at the league tournament. Individually, Murphy guided the Falcons to impacting the program record book 31 times, highlighted by a program record finish by Corbyn Cormack in the 100 Butterfly.
Following the 2021-22 season, the women's swimming and diving team set new program records in Mountain West academic honorees, earning 27 slots on the All-Academic team and 17 nods for the Scholar-Athlete team. The 27 All-Academic and 17 Scholar-Athlete selections marked the most by any MW affiliated team at the Academy. Air Force's 3.16 team GPA eventually guided the Falcons to CSCAA Scholar All-America Team honors.
In 2019-20, Murphy led the Falcons to 13 dual wins, the program's most since 2016, as well as a .722 winning percentage, the best winning percentage since 2014. The Falcons also went a perfect 9-0 against schools in the Western Athletic Conference, including a 146-96 win over WAC Champion Northern Arizona. In total, AF set 19 new top-10 all-time Academy bests, while Senior Heidi Schellin captured the Mountain West Conference Senior Recognition Award. She was the fourth Falcon to win the award in the last six years.
Year two at the helm for Murphy saw the Falcons have two All-Conference finishers in Kylie Stronko and Emma Strom at the 2019 MW Championships. Stronko also re-broke both of her backstroke records at the championships. At the conclusion of the season, AF was named a CSCAA NCAA Division I Scholar All-American Team.
In her first season as head of the program, Murphy continued to take the team to new heights. Four individual school records were broken, while the team set a new school record for team points at the Mountain West Championships with 572. Six Falcons earned All-MW honors, while five qualified with NCAA 'B' times for the CSCAA National Invitational.
Murphy's team also got it done in the classroom, as the team was honored as a Scholar All-American Team, and two of her swimmers, Jinan Andrews and Kylie Stronko, were honorable mention Scholar All-American's. In addition, Andrews was also named the Mountain West Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Since Murphy’s arrival in 2012, the Falcons have broken every school record, had their highest ever finish in the Mountain West and their first ever Division I All-American. Murphy is the first female swimming coach to ever win a national championship (Truman State) as a coach and is just a handful of swimming coaches in the country, male or female, to win a national championship as a swimmer (Oakland, Mich.) and as a coach (Truman State).
“It is an absolute privilege to serve as the women’s swimming coach at the Air Force Academy,” Murphy said. “It has been an honor to coach with Casey Converse the last five years. We have had an amazing partnership and our team has seen so much success and growth. I am looking forward to the future of Air Force swimming and our continued rise in the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA. I would like to thank Mr. Knowlton and Mr. Nelson for their belief in my vision for the future of our program and for the opportunity to lead this amazing team.
While at the Academy, Murphy recruited and coached the most decorated female Division I swimmer in school history. Genevieve Miller not only became the first female swimmer at Air Force to earn All-America honors, she graduated as a four-time All-American, earning the honor in the 500 and 1650 in 2016 and 2017. Miller became the first Mountain West swimmer to win two events all four years. In 2017, Miller was named the Mountain West Swimmer of the Year, earned the MW Senior Recognition Award and was named the Swimmer of the Meet at the conference championships.
In 2015-16, Murphy helped lead the Falcons to a 7-6 dual meet record, including conference wins over Colorado State and New Mexico. The team also set nine school records at the Mountain West Championships. In 2014-15, the Falcons tied their highest ever finish at the Mountain West Conference championships, placing sixth with 281 points. That team set seven new school records and posted 26 top 10 swims. In 2013-14, the Falcons posted a 17-3 overall record and placed sixth at the MW Championships with 292 points. In her first season at the Academy, 2012-13, Air Force was 10-5 in dual meets, set 14 school records and posted 33 swims that cracked the top-10 list.
A finalist for the College Swimming Rising Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015-16, Murphy earned the Judy Sweet Award at the NCAA Women’s Coaching Academy in the summer of 2016. The Judy Sweet Award recognizes two members of each team at the conference whose spirit and dedication to their own and to others’ personal and professional success has made an impact on their peers. In December, 2016, Murphy was selected to speak at the NCAA Women’s Coaching Academy as a championship coach
Prior to arriving at the Academy, Murphy spent five years as the head coach at Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix, Ariz., where she led the Gators to five 5A state titles. Murphy’s swimmers earned 23 NISCA All-American honors while at Xavier. While coaching at Xavier, she also coached with the Phoenix Swim Club.
From 2002-05, Murphy was the head coach at Truman State where she led the women’s swimming team to three national titles. A three-time NCAA Division II Coach of the Year, Murphy was head coach of both the men’s and women’s swimming teams, was the senior woman’s administrator and an instructor in exercise science. Her men’s teams earned two top 16 finishes at the NCAA Championships, including a 10th place finish in 2005. In 2005, she coached Sarah Dance, who earned the Walter Byers award. Her swimmers earned 72 NCAA All-American honors (52 women and 20 men) during her three years as head coach. Her teams set five NCAA Division II records (one individual and four relays) and four swimmers earned NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships. Murphy was inducted into the Truman State Hall of Fame, as a coach, in 2011.
Murphy has also served as assistant swimming coach at the University of Iowa from 2001-02 and at Truman State from 1999-2001. At Iowa, she helped lead the team to 10 new school records and coached a Division I All-American. As an assistant at Truman State, she helped lead the women to the 2001 NCAA Championship, coached a Honda Award winner, a Division II Female Athlete of the Year, a Division II Female Swimmer of the Year, 11 national champions, 33 All-Americans and 12 Academic All-Americans.
She also has club coaching experience with the Phoenix Swim Club in 2010-11 and Wildcat Aquatics from 1997-99 and has worked numerous swim camps, including at the University of Texas, Penn State and Arizona State University.
Murphy was a five-time All-American and three-time Academic All-American at Oakland University (Mich.). She was a scoring member of the 1994 NCAA Division II Championship team and was on three national runner-up teams (to Air Force in 1995 and 1996 and to Drury in 1997). On January 9, 2024, Oakland University announced the induction of the 1994 women's swimming team into the school's Hall of Fame. The historic team was part of a dynastic run for the program. Under Coach Tracy Huth, the team finished the 1993-94 season with an 8-2 record en route to a GLIAC Conference Championship and the Program's fifth straight Division II Championship.
The team was nationally known for their prowess in the pool, winning the Division II Championship with a total of 630 points and taking home first place in 12 different events.
Murphy graduated from Oakland University, cum laude, with a bachelor’s in history and a minor in exercise science. She earned her master’s degree in history from the University of Kentucky and certificate in college counseling from the University of California-San Diego.
Murphy is married to Joe Fanthorp. They have two children, son Brady and daughter Makenna. Murphy’s father was a former sergeant and firefighter in the Air Force, serving in Vietnam.
