Steve Barnes

Steve Barnes most recently joined the athletics administration at Ithaca College, his alma mater, after nine seasons as a coach at Penn State. He spent three years as the associate head coach following six years as an assistant coach.

Both the men’s and women’s programs at Penn State placed in the top 30 at the NCAA Championships in five out of seven appearances. 2016 Irish Olympian Shane Ryan earned two medals at NCAAs during Barnes’ tenure. Along with Ryan, two more Nittany Lions competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; both Melissa Rodriguez and Gabe Castano competed for Mexico.

In 2020-21, Penn State scored points at the NCAA Championships for the ninth-straight year, eight of which were under Barnes’ direction. The 2018-19 season featured the first individual NCAA National Champion for the PSU women’s squad.

Prior to his time at Penn State, Barnes spent four seasons as the head coach of the Wabash College swimming and diving program. Wabash earned three top-four finishes in four years at the North Coast Athletic Conference Men’s Championships under the direction of Barnes. Two of his swimmers claimed All-American honors at the 2011 NCAA Division III Championships.

Barnes previously spent three seasons as Kalamazoo College as an assistant coach. During this time, the program set an NCAA record, 39 school records, 36 individual and relay conference titles, 17 conference records, 59 NCAA B-cuts and 16 NCAA A-cuts, and nine individual top-eight finishes at NCAA Nationals. Barnes was named interim head coach for January through March 2008 as head coach Kathy Milliken was on maternity leave.

While a student at Ithaca College, Barnes was a four-time All-American and team MVP. He was named a 2005 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American honoree and was selected as Athlete of the Year at Ithaca College all four years, 2002-05. Barnes also earned CSCAA Scholar All-American honors for four consecutive years. He currently holds records in the 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyle for Ithaca and was a member of the record-setting 800-yard freestyle relay team. Barnes obtained a Master of Science in exercise science from Ithaca in 2006 while serving as an assistant coach for the program.