Kacy Ota named new Clovis swimming & diving head coach

Clovis Community College Interim Dean of Instruction for CTE, Library and Athletics Pamm Zierfuss-Hubbard has announced the hiring of Kacy Ota as the new head coach of the Crush men's and women's swimming and diving programs.

"Clovis Community College is ecstatic to have someone of Coach Ota's caliber leading our swim and dive program moving forward," said Zierfuss-Hubbard. "His connection to the local community and his experience at the four-year level will elevate our program to greater heights. We expect great things from Coach Ota and look forward to seeing the growth of the program and our student-athletes."

Ota brings over 25 years of coaching experience from the collegiate, high school, and club levels to Clovis.

"I am very excited to join Clovis Community College Crush Athletics," said Ota. "I look forward to the opportunity to grow and develop the program to be a competitive community college swim team as well as a part of the community."

Ota began his coaching career in the Central Valley as a summer league coach with the Selma Aqua Bears before becoming a USA Swimming Coach for Raisin County Aquatics. He quickly moved on to the high school level, taking over at nearby Selma High as its head coach.

After building a solid foundation for those three programs, Ota moved on to Southern California where he was named the head age-group coach for Conejo Simi Swim Club before eventually taking over head coaching duties of the club. During his time with the program, Ota helped lead Conejo Simi Swim Club to become a Bronze Medal Club while coaching and developing numerous swimmers to the national level, including qualifiers for Sectionals, Futures, Juniors, and Olympic Trials.

Ota also gained additional experience by launching the swim program as head coach at Grace Brethren High School in Simi Valley. While at Grace Brethren, he built the team from a six-member squad to over 20 student-athletes and was able to challenge for a league championship despite being outnumbered. He also served as head coach at Royal High School in Simi Valley.

Following his time at Grace Brethren, Ota moved on to the next level to serve as a volunteer assistant coach at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. In his one season with the team, Cal Lutheran broke numerous team records and advanced in the rankings of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).

Ota recently returned to the Central Valley as and is also currently a head age-group coach for Clovis Swim Club.

Ota replaces former Crush head coach Daniel Karkoska, who stepped down from the position earlier this summer. Clovis Community College competes as a member of the Central Valley Conference. The Crush swimming and diving teams are scheduled to return to action during the spring 2022 season.