Cornell University Athletics

John Holohan, one of the top amateur swim coaches in New York state, begins his fifth season at Cornell. Holohan was named the Big Red’s head women’s swimming coach in August 2003.

Prior to joining the Big Red staff, Holohan was the head coach and director of the Syracuse Sharks since 1988. The club is one of the top club swimming programs in Central New York. Holohan helped develop 20 junior national qualifiers, 10 world-ranked swimmers, six national qualifiers and the 2000 Olympic gold medal winner, Kim Black. He previously served as the sprint coach for LeMoyne College men’s and women’s swimming teams (1993-98), and he was assistant coach for the Syracuse women’s squad (1981-82). Holohan was a graduate assistant coach for the men’s water polo team at Syracuse in 1975.

The Syracuse, N.Y., native was also the owner and operator of Precision Coaching, an aquatic management company that manages five pools in the Syracuse area. He was both a coach and participant in the national team training camp for the World University Games in 1999. Holohan is also a member of the American Swim Coaches Association and the USA Swimming Coaches Association.

Holohan received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Syracuse in 1974 and a Master’s Degree in exercise science from Syracuse in 2005. His research for his MS degree on how physiology correlates to swimming performance was presented at both the FINA World Sports Medicine Conference and the North American Association of Pediatric Exercise Medicine Conference.