JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman Vice President for Athletics Matthew Pope has selected one of Carson-Newman swimming's first male All-Americans, Ben Young, to lead the program on an interim basis.
Young takes over for Jordan Taylor, who leaves for an assistant position at Utah, after serving as an assistant coach for the program for the last three years.
"As a member of the first class to receive scholarships to swim at Carson-Newman, we are excited to elevate Ben Young into the Interim Head Men and Women's Swim Coach role," Pope said. "We know Ben is highly regarded as a great teacher and is responsible for much of our recent competitive successes thanks to his work as an assistant with the program. We are excited to see Coach Young dive in and lead our swim teams well."
Young earned All-America honors in 2015, the first male athlete with the program to be recognized, along with Paul Ungur, Sam Schechter and Stephen Parsons at the 2015 National Championship Meet.
That quartet became the first All-Americans in the history of the program, men or women, with their top-eight finish in the 200 free relay.
Young's name still dots Carson-Newman's top-10 times. He still has the program's ninth-fastest time in the 50 free (20.46) and 100 free (44.98), as well as the eighth-fastest time in the 200 free (1:39.71) and the sixth-fastest in the 50-back (23.67).
More importantly, Young has helped the Eagles improve on those times since rejoining the program. Since Young came back as an assistant, Carson-Newman men's swimmers have produced 12 of the fastest times in program history in the 50, 100 and 200 free.
"The simple answer would be to say that I'm stoked and then throw as many exclamation points on that as you could imagine," Young said. "However, this is so much more complex than that.
I am incredibly excited to be experiencing this milestone as a coach, especially within a program that means so much to me personally.
"Being here from the beginning, watching what Jordan continued to build upon year after year, and then having the opportunity to continue expanding on that foundation myself - I'm not sure there are words to describe the amount of excitement I have in my body and how ready I am for this upcoming season. I'm ready for the team to be back on campus, ready to reset, and most importantly, ready to see what this group is willing to accomplish this season."
During his junior year, Young set several initial school records in the 50 free (20.46), 50 back (23.67) and 100 back (51.49). Young was also a member of several relay teams that set records: 200 and 400 free, 200 and 400 IM.
Over the past two years, Young has helped coach 22 All-American swims and 23 honorable mention All-American swims. Along the way, C-N swimmers reset 11 school records at nationals over the last two years.
He helped the women's swim team finish ninth at nationals in 2021 – the program's best-ever finish.
Young is married to former Carson-Newman swimmer Amanda Henderson. The couple has a son, Luka, and live in Jefferson City.
