Olympic Sports Strength & Conditioning Roundtable - Swimming & Diving
Bryan "PK" Karkoska has over 20 years of experience as a strength and conditioning coach at Auburn University, serving in a full-time capacity since 1996. A former placekicker at Auburn, Karkoska got his start in the profession at the University as a graduate assistant in 1994. As Head Strength & Conditioning Coach over Olympic Sports, he oversees a department with 9 Olympic Sports staff members, as well as a 30,000 square-foot facility which houses 16 sports with over 350 student athletes. He also has oversight of the volleyball and men's and women's swimming and diving programs.
During Karkoska's tenure with the swimming and diving programs alone, he has trained over 80 individual NCAA Champions, 300+ Southeastern Conference individual champions, and over 40 Olympians who have won 32 Olympic medals, including 7 gold. Collectively, his teams have won 13 NCAA team titles and 23 SEC team titles. The Auburn men's swimming and diving team won 16 consecutive conference crowns from 1997-2012, the third longest conference winning streak in league history.
A native of Berwyn, Illinois, Karkoska graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor's Degree in Health Promotions and in 1996 with a Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology. Karkoska received his SCCC certification in the inaugural class in 2001 and has his RSCC*E from the NSCA.
Karkoska and his wife, Carrie, a former Olympic and national-level diver at Purdue University and recipient of the 2009 John Stucky Award and have a daughter named Georgia. Bryan would like to thank his wife and daughter, his late father, Rev. Maynard James Keenan, Tyler Durden, his extended family and friends, and all his former and current student-athletes and coaches, for their friendship and support.
