Diving Coach

Coach Keith Russell is quickly asserting himself as a prominent coach in the diving community.
As a rookie coach for BYU in 1993, he helped Vanessa Thelin and Valerie Blau earn All-America status at the NCAA championships. He followed that success by coaching Thelin to the 1994 NCAA title on one-meter springboard.

That success accumulated last season, when Russell was awarded the WAC Diving Coach of the Year for the third time and for the second consecutive season. Russell coached Devan Porter and Viraj Patil to conference titles on the 3M and platform, respectively. He then went on to guide Rachelle Smith to a 15th-place finish on the 1M at the 1999 NCAA Championships, followed by a national championship on the 1M board at the U.S. Summer Nationals. He was named diving coach for last summer's U.S. squad at the World Student University Games as well.

A native of Mesa, Ariz., Russell won the 1968 NCAA three-meter diving championships while attending Arizona State. He was later selected for the 1968 U.S. Olympic Games Diving Team. Following an LDS mission to Chile, he enrolled at BYU where he won All-America diving honors in 1972.

He graduated from BYU in 1973 with a B.S. degree in business. Continuing his athletic career, he competed in the 1974 World Championships, placing second on platform and third on the three-meter springboard.

Russell remained active in diving affairs while pursuing a career in business. He founded the Mesa Desert Divers and was its head coach for 10 years. He was president of the Arizona Diving Association and is currently a member of the Professional Diving Coaches Association and the U.S. Diving Education Committee. In 1993-94 and 1997-98, he was voted WAC Diving Coach of the Year.

He is married to Marsha Lofgreen, and they have six children: Rex (27), Rand (23), Mindy (22), Aaron (21), Kerri (17) and Regan (15). Aaron, the 1997 Utah State 4A diving champion, signed with BYU in 1997. He recently returned from an LDS mission to Portugal and will join the team this year.