Indiana University Athletics
Women's Swimming and Diving
- Title:
- Assistant Head Coach & Director of Recruiting Service/Men's and Women's Swimming
- Email:
- lukeryan@iu.edu
- Phone:
- (812) 856-5105
Luke Ryan joined the Indiana swimming and diving staff in the summer of 2020. In 2023, he was promoted to assistant head swimming coach and director of recruiting, and in 2026 he elevated to associate head coach.
Since Ryan joined head coach Ray Looze’s staff, Indiana has won six Big Ten titles, including five consecutive on the men’s side. The Hoosier men have earned five consecutive top five finishes at the NCAA Championships, and the women’s program earned its best-ever national performance in 2025, placing fourth.
Ryan has stood at the forefront of Indiana’s success in the distance events.
Ryan recruited Zalán Sárkány as a transfer to the program prior to the 2024-25 season, and since helped him become one of the top distance swimmers in both the collegiate and international settings. Sárkány repeated as NCAA Champion in the 1,650-yard freestyle during his first season at IU in 2025, and the next season he set the NCAA record in the 1,000-yard freestyle. His time in the 1,650 free, 1,000 free and 500 free all mark Big Ten and program records.
Internationally, the Hungarian Olympian won the world title in 800-meter freestyle (SCM) in 2024 after joining the IU program. He also won gold in the 800-meter long course event at the World Aquatics World Cup and European Championships.
Sárkány and his teammates flexed the IU distance program’s muscles at the 2026 Big Ten Championships, sweeping the medals in both the 500-yard freestyle and 1,650-yard freestyle.
Ryan also guided Josh Bey as he dropped 7.71 seconds in the 400-yard IM during his freshman season. The Big Ten Swimmer of the Year and Freshman of the Year, Bey won the conference gold and set the Big Ten record with a 3:34.90, ranking him No. 8 all-time as well as the second-fastest freshman ever.
Ching Hwee Gan and Mariah Denigan formed a dangerous distance duo during their time with the women’s program. A two-time Big Ten Champion in the mile, Gan medaled at the NCAA Championships in three consecutive seasons from 2023-25 and was joined on the podium by Denigan in 2023-24. Both competed at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Ryan served as an assistant coach for the Tunisian national team at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships, specifically working with Ahmed Hafnaoui. At the championships, Hafnaoui won world titles in the 1,500 free and 800 free and earned a silver medal in the 400 free, posting top five times in all three events.
Ryan currently serves on the national team staff for Czechia.
The Hoosier coaching staff has produced double-digit Olympic swimmers in consecutive cycles. Eleven swimmers with ties to the program participated at the Paris Games, including five members of the U.S. Olympic Team as well as athletes representing Egypt, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands and, for the first time in school history, Singapore and Lithuania. Ten Hoosier swimmers combined for eight medals at the 2020 Tokyo Games, and Hoosier swimmers have totaled eight medals at the last two World Aquatics Championships – short course in 2024 (Budapest) and long course in 2025 (Singapore).
Ryan moved to Bloomington after spending the 2019 campaign as a volunteer assistant coach with Ohio State. While with the Buckeyes, Ryan served as the primary women’s recruiting coach for 15 states and was actively involved in many other high-profile recruiting efforts.
Prior to his year with OSU, Ryan spent a season with Penn State as an undergraduate assistant. On top of his duties with the swim program, he earned three letters with the Nittany Lion football team as a student manager. He worked primarily with the quarterback group.
Ryan also worked with the Navy Swim Camp in the summer of 2018. He wrote and executed workouts for 10-14 swimmers as a “Seal Team Leader” in addition to working swim camps at Penn State, Villanova and Ohio State.
In the summer of 2017, he spent time working as an assistant coach with the Austin Swim Club tied to the swim program at the University of Texas where he shadowed legendary Texas head coach Eddie Reese to expand upon his program development knowledge.
Ryan graduated from Penn State University in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a psychology minor. He was twice named to the Dean’s List, once at Towson and once at Penn State. He has three brothers, one older, one younger and one twin. Ryan originally hails from Villanova, Pennsylvania.
Ryan and his fiancé, Kristin, live together in Bloomington.
