SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Peterson Family Head Swimming Coach Chris Lindauer has rounded out his staff as he has tabbed Trevor Carroll as an assistant coach. Carroll, a Granger, Ind. native, returns home after spending the previous four seasons on the staff at Pitt as an assistant coach.
“I had the amazing opportunity to coach Trevor as a student-athlete,” said Lindauer. “His work ethic and passion for our sport is evident and his success in and out of the pool is a testament that hard work pays off. Hiring coaches that want to build something special at Notre Dame and dream big is my number one priority and Trevor is that coach. Originally from Granger, Indiana, Trevor is very familiar with Notre Dame and how special it is to represent the Fighting Irish. I’m thrilled to welcome Trevor and Andrea to our Notre Dame family! Go Irish!”
During his four seasons with the Panthers, Carroll’s student-athlete tutelage and his vast knowledge of the Atlantic Coast Conference have seen Pitt swimming & diving make significant improvements. In total since 2018, Pitt swimmers have combined to break a total of 28 school records, with men’s swimming accounting for 22 historic swims during that time.
“I’m very thankful to Chris, Juli and the rest of the administration for the opportunity to come home and work for the University of Notre Dame,” said Carroll. “Growing up in South Bend it has always been a dream of mine to be a part of this program and my wife and I are thrilled to be joining the Notre Dame family. I’m looking forward to working with the student athletes and helping them reach their full potential in and out of the pool. Go Irish!”
During the 2021-22 campaign, four Pitt school records were broken and the men’s squad broke three school records over the course of the season. Senior Cooper Van der Laan was responsible for two of the record breaking swims in the season with the first coming at the Ohio State Invitational. He swam a 51.42 in the 100 breaststroke to claim the school record. Later in the year at the ACC Championships, he tallied his third career medal as he broke the school record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:52.76 to finish third. He is just the third athlete in program history to earn three career ACC medals and two of those occurrences have happened under Carroll’s tutelage.
In 2020-21, the Panthers broke five school records and had two swimmers earn All-American status at the NCAA Championships. Sprinter Blaise Vera became just the second student-athlete in program history to claim three ACC medals in his career after finishing third in the 100 freestyle at the 2021 ACC Championships. Vera earned first team All-American status after qualifying for the championship heat in the 50 freestyle. He finished seventh overall and became Pitt’s first men’s swimmer to earn first team All-American honors since 1980. Van der Laan joined Vera on the podium the very next night as he finished eighth in the championship heat of the 100 breaststroke. Vera and Van der Laan became the first Pitt duo to earn first team All-American honors in the same season in program history.
The 2019-20 campaign not only saw Pitt post its best men’s team finish in the program’s ACC history, but sprinter Blaise Vera earned CSCAA All-America status after qualifying for the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive season.
In his first season with the Panthers, Pitt posted men’s swimming top-five ACC relay finishes for the first time in team history, while Samy Helmbacher and Vera became Pitt’s first ACC men’s swimming medalists and qualified for the NCAA Championships, giving the Panthers two men’s swimmers at the national meet for the first time since 2002.
Carroll was hired at Pitt in October 2018 after spending the 2017-18 season as a volunteer assistant under Arthur Albiero at Louisville, where Carroll also competed for the Cardinals from 2013-17.
While on staff with his alma mater, Carroll assisted as the Cardinals produced their best season in the school’s swimming & diving history. Both Louisville programs finished second at the 2018 ACC Championships, with the women earning a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships and the men placing ninth at nationals.
Carroll has also spent two seasons coaching the Lakeside Swim Team in Louisville, earning team medals in 2017 and ’18 as one of the top club swimming programs in the country.
As an athlete, Carroll helped the Cardinals transition seamlessly from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC during his successful four-year collegiate swimming career as a freestyle specialist.
As a freshman, Carroll competed on two AAC-winning relays and placed on the podium individually in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle at the AAC Championships before helping Louisville’s 800-yard freestyle relay earn a top-10 finish at the 2014 NCAA Championships.
In his final three seasons at Louisville, Carroll consistently proved himself in the ACC after the Cardinals joined the conference, while also performing on the national stage at the NCAA Championships.
In total, he earned nine individual top-10 finishes at the ACC Championships, with three podium finishes in freestyle events ranging from the 50 to the 500. Carroll was also a 14-time All-American in his final three seasons at Louisville, helping the Cardinals’ relays reach several national finals while earning individual All-America honors as well.
Carroll is a Granger, Ind. native, where he attended Saint Joseph’s High School. Carroll was a two-time state champion in the 200-freestyle, an Indiana Senior State Champion in the 50, 100, and 500-freestyle and earned a 3-time Northern Indiana Conference MVP title.
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