Pitt Athletic Director Allen Greene met with athletes of Pitt swimming and diving to formally inform them of the resignation of head coach Chase Kreitler. Athletes in that assembly together with, NCAA All-American Claire Jansen, have stated they “sat in a gathering with Allen Greene and left with no actual solutions.”
Greene stated in a college announcement, “After I met with our student-athletes this morning, I shared our continued need to area a nationally aggressive program, whereas supporting their holistic improvement as college students and athletes. Sustaining this philosophy requires not solely reaching these targets however being strategic in how we accomplish that. That can be our focus as we seek for our subsequent head coach.”
Kreitler resigned as head coach of the lads’s and girls’s packages, efficient instantly. The ladies’s program simply had their highest end in class historical past (t-Sixteenth) whereas the lads’s program was twentieth, their highest end in 73 years. Kreitler stated in his resignation letter he despatched to SwimSwam that the “division intends to maneuver in a distinct strategic course after the 2026–2027 season.”
Jansen posted on Instagram and is collabed on the submit with quite a few different Pitt swimming alum together with Sophie Yendell, Angelina Messina, and Jessica Sturdy. The group spoke on not solely this expertise at Pitt but additionally the way forward for Olympic Sports activities.
Yendell made historical past for Pitt on the 2025 NCAA Championships turning into the group’s first NCAA All-American in 39 years. Jansen adopted that up with NCAA All-American swims this previous season, ending 4th within the 200 again and seventh within the 100 again at 2026 NCAAs. Jansen led the way in which because the Pitt girls had their highest end in program historical past at NCAAs.
Slide 1: “As present and up to date College of Pittsburgh Swim & Dive athletes, we wish to be clear that this displays our personal experiences, opinions, and beliefs. Pitt Swim & Dive has been instrumental in shaping who we’re, each as athletes and as folks. It laid the muse for our futures, and we wish that very same alternative to exist for each athlete who comes after us. We’re talking up as a result of we care concerning the longevity of this program and what it stands for.”
Slide 2: “What Chase Kreitler constructed at Pitt was historic. Document breaking performances, All Individuals, and a tradition that elevated this program in each method. He created a group that was proud to characterize Pitt, and dedicated to excellence within the pool, the classroom, and past. Many people got here right here due to that imaginative and prescient, and we’ve spent years shopping for into it, trusting it, and serving to construct it.
He cared about us, not simply as athletes, however as folks. He constructed a tradition rooted in integrity, gratitude, accountability, and respect. That’s why this issues a lot.
And but, we sat in a gathering with Allen Greene and left with no actual solutions.”
Slide 3: “We have been informed this choice was about “management” and “match,” however given no specifics. We have been informed there’s intent to fund this system, however no dedication to sustaining the extent of help that made this success potential. On the identical time, we’ve heard a need for a extra “holistic” method, but what Chase constructed was one of the holistic packages in school athletics, balancing elite efficiency, teachers, and real athlete improvement.
In that very same dialog, blame was shifted onto Chase for speaking with athletes, and narratives have been created that don’t replicate the expertise of those that have truly been a part of this program.”
Slide 4: “Let’s be trustworthy about what meaning.
Uncertainty like this doesn’t simply influence a coach, it impacts each athlete. It takes away stability, belief, and the flexibility to maintain progressing on the degree we’ve labored for. We imagine it creates an surroundings the place athletes are compelled to query whether or not they can proceed to develop right here.
You don’t have to chop a program in a single day to dismantle it. You’ll be able to cut back help, create instability, and pressure it to unravel from inside.”
Slide 5: “And we really feel it’s not possible to disregard what this displays. A system of class-based discrimination inside school athletics, the place sure sports activities are prioritized and resourced, whereas others are anticipated to succeed with out the identical degree of institutional help, even at a time of historic success.
At a time when the Home v NCAA settlement is reshaping school athletics, it’s arduous to disregard the irony. A swimmer helped drive that dialog ahead, but Olympic sports activities like ours proceed to be those dealing with instability and diminished help.”
Slide 6: “So what message does this ship?That even historic success isn’t sufficient.That Olympic sports activities are solely valued when it’s handy.That the usual isn’t excellence, it’s income.
This isn’t nearly Pitt. That is about the way forward for school swimming and Olympic sports activities.
If you happen to care about Olympic sports activities and the way forward for school athletics, be vocal. Assist defend what has given so many people a lot.”
