By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
The University of Florida swimming & diving program is moving on from assistant coach Kristen Murslack, a school spokesperson confirmed to SwimSwam Wednesday.
Murslack served as an assistant coach with the Gators for the last four seasons, having been hired in May 2021 after two seasons as an assistant at Pitt.
The spokesperson said the program is “focused on the next steps with continuing to move the program forward” following Murslack’s departure.
“We are grateful for Coach Murslack’s work she put into the program,” the spokesperson said.
Although Murslack is officially listed as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s swim teams, she primarily worked with the women’s program and was the recruiting lead for the Gator women.
The Florida women steadily rose through the ranks during Murslack’s first three seasons with the program, placing 13th at the 2022 NCAAs, tying for 8th in 2023 and then producing a breakthrough 3rd-place finish in 2024, the team’s best finish in 14 years. The Gator women also won back-to-back SEC titles in 2023 and 2024.
However, the team fell to 6th place this past season at NCAAs, and were the runner-ups at the SEC Championships after Texas joined the conference and claimed the title in their debut season.
During her time at Pitt, Murslack primarily coached the individual medley and butterfly swimmers along with helping the mid-distance freestyle group. Like at Florida, she was the primary contact for women’s recruiting with the Panthers.
Prior to her coaching career, Murslack swam for Auburn from 2013 to 2017, earning SEC Honor Roll accolades twice and serving as a team captain.
She also worked as a graduate assistant coach for the Auburn women’s soccer program and spent time as a coaching intern at Auburn. She graduated with a Master’s in Higher Education Administration from Auburn in 2019 after earning her Bachelor’s in Exercise Science in 2017.
The Florida coaching staff, led by head coach Anthony Nesty, includes Whitney Hite as associate head coach and three other swimming assistants remaining with the departure of Murslack: Alex Dehner, Jack Szaranek and Annie Lazor.
Murslack did not respond to a request for comment.
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