Former Arizona staff member Peter Richardson, who helped guide the Wildcats distance swimmers from 2019–22, was hired to return to Tucson as an associate head coach for Arizona Swimming & Diving by head coach Ben Loorz on June 13, 2024.
In his first season back at Arizona, Richardson oversaw a successful Arizona program that finished runner-up on both the men's and women's sides at Big 12 Championships and sent multiple athletes to NCAAs.
Under Richardson's guidance, 25 Arizona athletes were Big 12 finalists, leading the Cats to runner-up finishes for both the men and women. At these same conference championships, 17 Arizona athletes made the All-Big 12 first team and eight were awarded second team honors.
Also during Richardson's first year back with the Cats, 16 Arizona athletes qualified for the NCAA Championships, 11 of whom were named to the CSCAA All-American Second Team. Richardson also guided an Arizona program that saw four records broken and 16 top-ten times set during the 2024-25 season.
Upon his hiring of Richardson, head coach Ben Loorz commended Richardson's energy, passion and capabilites as a coach and recruiter, qualities which he demonstrated throughout this first season back.
"I'd like to welcome coach Richardson back to the Wildcat family! His passion for the University of Arizona, and for the student-athletes, always shines through," Loorz said at the time of his hiring. "He's a world-class recruiter and a high-integrity coach. I know the swimmers are going to love his energy and will immediately benefit from his vast experience and knowledge."
Following three years in Tucson, Richardson logged a successful two-year stint in Los Angeles with the USC Trojans. During the 2023-24 season under Richardson's guidance the USC women achieved a runner-up finish at the Pac-12 Championships and placed eighth at the NCAA Championships. The Trojan women's perfect 9-0 record in dual meet competition last year was their first undefeated mark in program history. Richardson's mark extended internationally at USC as well, as he oversaw the training of four Olympic A-cut qualifiers while with the Trojans; all four will compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"Coach Loorz does things the right way and we have always talked about teaming up. I could not be more excited to return to this special place," Richardson said at the time of his hiring. "Arizona is one of only six men's and seven women's teams who have won an NCAA Team Championship since 2000 — this is a place we can win. Arizona has world-class facilities, world-class tradition, and we're going to make sure to recruit and develop in that same fashion!"
In August of 2023, Richardson was the head coach for Team USA at the World University Games in Chengdu, China. There he led Team USA to 33 finals and seven medals, representing nearly one third of all Team USA medals won. Richardson's guidance helped steer Keaton Jones to a gold medal in the 200 back, the only gold medal won by the entire Team USA delegation.
During his first tenure with the Wildcats, coach Richardson helped fuel three successful campaigns for the Arizona distance swimmers, highlighted by a pair of Pac-12 Championships by Brooks Fail in the 1650 free event.
The Wildcats distance group picked up three NCAA A-cuts and nine B-cuts under Richardson's guidance during the 2021–22 season. The year prior, during the 2020–21 season, Richardson helped Fail accomplish one of the best individual NCAA Championship performances in program history; Fail placed third in the 500 free, fourth in the 1650 free, and eighth in the 200 fly. Fail's career-best time of 14:31.38 in the 1650 free broke a 22-year-old school record and his 4:09.41 mark in the 500 free went down as the 13th fastest time by a man in world history.
Richardson achieved success immediately at Arizona during the 2019–20 season, his first with the Wildcats. The Arizona men finished second at the Pac-12 Championships, tied for the highest finish in program history. The Wildcats distance crew qualified four individuals for the NCAA Championships that year.
Prior to his first stop in Tucson, Richardson spent seven seasons as the head coach at the University of the Pacific. During his time with the Tigers an incredible 73 school records were established and in 2018 the program was one of just two programs in the nation to achieve an NCAA A-cut relay time without a full allotment of scholarships.
He began his coaching career at Fresno Pacific University, where as the head swimming coach he led the men's side to back-to-back NAIA National Championships in 2010 and 2011, along with a women's NAIA National Championship in 2012.
Richardson swam collegiately at the University of the Pacific, where as a team captain he helped the Tigers seal back-to-back Big West Championships in his junior and senior campaigns.
Richardson is joined in Tucson by his wife, Jonelle, and his four children Gabrielle, Brooklynn, Peter, and Juliette.
Richardson's Arizona History
2021-22 Season
In his third year as Associate Head Coach, Richardson coached Senior Brooks Fail to another PAC 12 Championship in the 1650 freestyle. At the NCAA Championships, Brooks Fail earned All-American honors in 500 freestyle (5th), 400 IM (6th) and 1650 freestyle (7th). Fail’s success in the pool led him to be one of only 8 athletes in the NCAA to score in all three “A” Finals in back-to-back years. Additionally, Brooks broke Arizona’s school record in the 400 IM (3:38.55). Arizona’s freshmen distance swimmers had big drops at the PAC 12 Championships – Elizabeth Mackowiak (4:55 – 4:48), Stella Copeland (4:54-4:49) and Beck Parnham (4:27-4:21) in the 500 freestyle. Sophomore Tia Lindsay dropped ten seconds in her 400 IM, going 4:16.93 at the PAC 12 Championships. All in all, the Arizona distance group picked up three NCAA “A” Cuts and nine “B” Cuts during the season.
2020-21 Season
At the 2021 PAC 12 Championships, freshman Amalie Mortensen swam a 1:44.81, which was the third fastest time amongst all freshmen during the NCAA season. She would go on to place 14th at NCAAs. Her distance group teammate, Molly Batchelor, also qualified for NCAAs in the 500 freestyle (4:44.03). On the men’s side, Brooks Fail went on to swim one of the best NCAA Championships in Arizona history. He placed 3rd in the 500 freestyle, 4th in the 1650 and 8th in the 200 fly. His 1650 free time (14:31.38) broke a 22 year old school record and his 500 freestyle time of 4:09.41 makes him the 13th fastest man in history. Later that summer, Richardson coached three Arizona athletes to six top 8 finishes at Wave II US Olympic Trials – just missing Olympic berths.
2019-20 Season
In his first year as Associate Head Coach, Richardson helped the men’s team to a 2nd place finish at the 2020 PAC 12 Championships – tied for the highest finish in Arizona history. Brooks Fail was the PAC 12 Champion in the 1650. He and senior Christian Imbus (dropped 12 seconds for a 15:05) combined for 29 points to help propel the Wildcats on the last finals session. The Arizona distance swimmers qualified four individuals for the NCAA Championships and were seeded to score 32 individual points at the eventual canceled championships. At the PAC 12 Championships, senior Kirsten Jacobsen swam a best time by over 4 seconds in the 1650 (15:59.31) and later that evening anchored the 400 freestyle relay in 48.10.
