BATON ROUGE - Louisiana State University Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva announced on Monday the promotion of Shippensburg University swimming alum Dave Geyer '99/'01M to lead the LSU swimming and diving programs.

Alleva said Geyer and Doug Shaffer will be co-head coaches for both the LSU men's and women's swimming and diving teams. Geyer will serve as the head swimming coach, while Shaffer will be the head diving coach.

Geyer has spent the past five seasons as an assistant coach with the Tigers, while Shaffer has been with the program for eight years as the diving coach.

"I'm excited about promoting David Geyer and Doug Shaffer to lead our swimming and diving program," Alleva said. "These two men will demand excellence in the classroom, in the community and in competition. (They) are highly respected by our student-athletes and will lead the LSU swimming and diving program to new heights."

Geyer began his coaching career as an assistant at Shippensburg from 1999-2001. He worked with all facets of the program including recruiting, coaching and administration. He graduated from Shippensburg with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1999 before receiving his master's degree in counseling in 2001.

As a swimmer at Shippensburg, Geyer placed at the PSAC Championships in all four of his competitive seasons in addition to earning All-American honors at the 1997 National Championships. He was a three-time PSAC runner-up in individual medley competition.

Geyer is married to the former Lyndi Croft '01, who was also an All-American swimmer at Shippensburg from 1997-2001. The couple has two daughters, Maddilyn (5) and Kayda (1).

"It's an honor that LSU had the faith in me to lead the swimming programs," Geyer said. "I am really looking forward to guiding these programs in a positive direction and helping our student-athletes not only excel in the water but in the classroom and community as well."

In his previous five seasons as an assistant with the Tigers, Geyer worked with all phases of the programs. The 33-year-old was instrumental in helping numerous athletes shatter program records and earn All-America honors while also playing a vital role in the recruitment of top-level international student-athletes.

In 2008, Geyer trained former LSU standout and Olympian Miko Malberg prior to the Beijing Olympic Games where the former All-American went on to set an Estonian national record in the 50-meter freestyle and place 25th overall.

He also traveled to Croatia for the 2008 European Short-Course Championships as a member of the Estonian National coaching staff where he guided Malberg to a pair of national records and helped an Estonian relay qualify for its first championship final at that competition.

Prior to joining the LSU staff, Geyer gathered five years of coaching experience on the collegiate and club levels, including a stint as an assistant coach at Mecklenburg Aquatics from 2002-05.

*** Some information and photos in this article are courtesy of LSU Sports Information (Jesse Delerno).