Swimming and Diving
- Title:
- Head Diving Coach
- Email:
- a.crowder@tcu.edu
The 2024-25 campaign saw two individuals excel and qualify for the NCAA Championships, as David Ekdahl and Anna Kwong earned their spot at the final stage. Ekdahl took home gold on both 1-meter and 3-meter for the Horned Frogs, while Kwong won on 3-meter. Kwong set the school record on 3-meter in a dual against Iowa State, scoring a 415.28.
During the 2021-22 season the TCU divers earned a record-high 38 NCAA Zone D qualification scores on the women’s side and 32 from the men in a season. During the Big 12 Championships, David Ekdahl made school history becoming the first TCU diver to ever win gold, doing so with a school-record score of 388.50 on 1-meter. TCU diving earned 12 Big 12 finals appearances. For the first time in eight years, TCU qualified for the NCAA National Championships with both David Ekdahl and Alec Hubbard qualifying. This marked the first time in TCU history that multiple divers qualified in the same year. TCU divers were awarded Big 12 Diver of the Week six times, David Ekdahl (3), Anna Kwong (2), Alec Hubbard (1).
TCU divers captured 21 total NCAA Zone D qualification scores covering all three events. In the 2021 Big 12 Conference finals, Connie Deighton broke the school record on tower with a score of 251.4. During the 2021 Big 12 Conference Championships, the divers earned five total finals appearances. Izzy Ashdown and Deighton qualified for the finals at Zone D, which marked the third straight year a TCU diver had done so.
In Crowder’s second season, the TCU divers raised the bar to new heights continuing from the foundations laid in the 2018-19 season. The women’s team alone earned 22 NCAA Zone D Championship qualification scores throughout the season. Izzy Ashdown set two new school records at 323.63 and 362.18 on 1-meter and 3-meter, respectively. At the 2020 Big 12 Championships the women divers earned four total finals appearances. As the two returned to the NCAA Zone D Championships, TCU earned its second year in a row of competing at the event and having divers in the finals. During the year Izzy Ashdown was awarded Big 12 Diver of the Week once (Nov. 13).
In Crowder’s first season as the head diving coach at TCU, his divers earned 15 NCAA Zone D cuts. The TCU diving squad made three Big 12 Conference Championship final appearances with Izzy Ashdown finishing fifth on tower. Connie Deighton and Ashdown’s arrival to the 2019 NCAA Zone D Championships marked the first time in five years a TCU diver had been to the meet and marked the first time in 10 years a TCU diver was represented in a Zone D final. Izzy Ashdown was named the Big 12 Conference diver of the Week one time (Nov. 14).
Anthony Crowder was named TCU's head diving coach entering the 2018-19 season."It is my pleasure to be a part of this world class university and work with colleagues that have similar values and goals," Crowder said. "I look forward to working with this coaching staff, the TCU athletic department and our student athletes to produce champions in the classroom, the pool, and in life."
Crowder comes to TCU after four years at George Washington University where he helped the men's team win two consecutive A10 Conference Championship Titles. While at GW, Crowder's divers set school diving records on eight different occasions including all of the men's diving records and the women's platform record. In 2018, three male divers finished top 8 on both one-meter and three-meter at the A10 Championships and qualified for NCAA Zones. During his tenure at GW, Crowder coached divers to twelve A10 finals, including Peter Nachtwey who finished second in both the one-meter and three-meter in 2018.
"It is a pleasure to bring Anthony on board as our new diving coach," Winchester said. "I've had the pleasure of working with him for the last three years and he's been a key part of our championship success at GW. He's a passionate coach, very relationship-oriented, and I know he's going to be a major success here."
Prior to GW, Crowder coached at Wingate University from 2011-2013. While there, he coached Lindsey Taylor, the 2012 NCAA DII one-meter National Champion and produced several NCAA Division II National Championship zone qualifiers.
As a collegiate student-athlete, he dove for Western Illinois for three semesters before sustaining a career-ending back injury and transferring to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte where he graduated with a Bachelors in Science with a double concentration in Marketing and Management. In high school, Crowder was a multi-sport athlete and was a three-time Illinois State qualifier for Diving finishing his senior year as the IHSA runner up. The son of Michael and Cathy Crowder, Anthony is Married to Maria Crowder.
