Four-time Missouri Valley Coach of the Year winner Rickey Perkins enters his 14th season as head coach of the men’s and women’s swimming & diving team.
While at UE, Perkins has continued to carry the tradition of the program. During his career, Perkins has led the squad to 48 all-conference honors, 62 scholar-athletes and four CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-American selections.
Before coming to Evansville in 2002, Perkins was a successful swim coach in Alaska, the state of Washington, and the Bahamas. He was head assistant swim coach, recruiting coordinator and academic coach for the previous three years at the University of Washington. Perkins served on the coaching staff of the Barracuda Swim Club in Nassau, Bahamas from 1998-99, and before that was Head Swim Coach at the University of Alaska-Anchorage from 1994-98.
Originally from Midland, Texas, Perkins earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. He began his coaching career at the high school and club levels in Anchorage in 1989, and then took over the program at his alma mater in 1994. Under Perkins, Alaska-Anchorage improved from 24th to 13th in the NCAA Division II National Championship meet, and produced 16 All-Americans. Perkins also improved the team grade point average to better than 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
In 1998 he became a National Coach for the Bahamas, and helped lead the National Team to seven meet records and its highest finish ever at the CARIFTA Swim Championships, the major swim meet among Caribbean countries. In 1999 he went to Washington, and helped the Huskies set 17 school records. Washington also produced a ninth place finisher in the 2001 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships.
Perkins’ wife, Delores, serves as a volunteer coach, helping out in all aspects of the team. The couple currently reside in Evansville.
