USC’s Lea Maurer Previews the Upcoming 2022-23 Season for the Trojans

Lea Maurer joins the SwimSwam podcast a couple weeks into her first year as the, “Peter Daland Endowed Swimming Coach Chair,” aka Head Coach, at USC. Lea is an Olympic Gold Medalist and former American Record holder. She swam for legends like John Collins, Randy Reese, and Richard Quick. She talks about how each of them continues to influence her coaching today, as well as how her experience as an athlete shaped her approach to coaching. Lea spent 6 years as the Head Coach of the Women at Stanford and discussed the impact she felt she made on the program. In between her time in Palo Alto and her move to Southern California, Lea was the volunteer Men’s Water Polo coach. She says she worried about getting neck punched but it reemphasized her ability to bring joy to swimming. She returned to the collegiate deck over a year ago and spent most of last season as the interim head coach of the Trojans before being named the head coach. Her first task? Title IX compliance cuts. Lea has managed to keep USC moving forward with a great staff and this year’s squad is focused on culture and setting a new tone. She dives into the strategies and conversations that have brought this ’22-’23 squad together, very early in the season.