Bio entering 2022-23
In 2022-23, Stephen Allnutt embarks on his fourth year as the San Diego State swimming and diving program’s Associate Head Coach and his ninth year as a part of the Aztecs’ coaching staff. Over Allnutt's eight seasons at SDSU, the Aztecs are 85-2 in dual meet competition and are four-time conference champions (2015, 2019, 2020, 2022).
In 2021-22 the Aztecs were 12-0 in dual meets and extended its dual meet win streak to 40, having not lost a dual meet since Jan. 8, 2018. The team took the Mountain West Championship in style, posting the best score in conference history, a 1,541.5, and outdistancing the previous record by over 190 points.
Klara Thormalm, who garnered her third consecutive Mountain West Swimmer of the Year honor, equaling a conference record, led a squad in which each member authored at least one career-best time and 10 B-cut times were recorded. In addition to Thormalm’s honor at the conference championship, Meredith Smithbaker earned Freshman of the Meet distinction.
Forty-eight Aztec swimmers earned All-Mountain West honors, led by Thormalm’s seven. The senior, who owns the program record for the 100 and 200 Breaststroke, qualified for the NCAA Championships in multiple events, swimming a 22.35 in the 50-Free, the fifth fastest time in program history and finishing in 15th place in the 100-Breaststroke.
The Aztecs were a perfect 4-0 in dual meets in 2020-21, and improved upon its three-plus year unbeaten streak, which entering 2021-22 stands at 28 straight dual meet victories. The last time San Diego State lost a dual meet was against Colorado State (153-147) on Jan. 8, 2018.
Among the best individual performances, Kalra Thormalm set a San Diego State and Mountain West Conference record with a 100 Breaststroke of 58.68 at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. She also swam the fifth fastest 50 Freestyle in program history at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships and, in earning 88 points, was named the Swimmer of the Meet at the 2021 Mountain West Championships and was honored as the league’s Swimmer of the Year. In total, the Aztecs recorded 13 top-three finishes at the conference championship meet, including five in relay events. In the diving events, Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez won the 1-meter title and finished in second on the platform.
Thormalm and Lechuga Gonzalez qualified for the NCAA Championship and Kristina Murphy competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
The Aztecs were top performers in the classroom as well, earning College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Team designation for the eighth consecutive semester with a record 3.42 GPA and 23 members of the team were honored as Academic All-Mountain West.
The 2019-20 campaign was another successful one for the Aztecs as they defended their conference championship and qualified three individual swimmers, a relay squad, and one diver to compete in the 2020 NCAA Championships (canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). San Diego State continued its perfect dual-meet streak for the second consecutive season, posting an 8-0 record throughout the 2019-20 season.
In addition to their success in the water, the Aztecs posted their highest team grade-point average in program history during the Fall 2019 semester, collectively earning a 3.34 team GPA.
At the 2020 conference championships, the Aztecs set new conference-best marks in the 100 breast, 200 breast, and the 200-yard medley relay, with both individual record-setting swims coming from Mountain West Swimmer of the Meet junior Klara Thormalm. Their championship efforts lead to 35 all-Mountain West conference honors.
Including three new school records, SDSU's swimmers posted 23 times that rank inside the program's top-10 performances throughout the 2019-20 season. Additionally, a team-best seven swimmers earned all-America distinction from the CSCAA for their impressive performances ranking among the nation’s best in 2019-20.
The Aztecs have finished inside the top three of the Mountain West Championships for 11 consecutive seasons and in 2019-20, the Aztecs recorded their fourth undefeated dual meet season in the last six years.
After five years as San Diego State swimming and diving's assistant coach, Stephen Allnutt was promoted to Associate Head Coach in April 2019. Allnutt has been a part of three of San Diego State’s Mountain West Championships including the 2014-15 team, the 2018-19 team and the defending 2019-20 championship program.
In 2018-19, the Aztecs set 15 school records and four Mountain West all-time records while sending a trio of swimmers to the NCAA Championships, including Courtney Vincent, Morganne McKennan, and honorable mention all-American Klara Thormalm. The Aztecs scored the fourth most points among non-power-5 members at the NCAA Championships in March and ranked fifth among California programs, trailing only national champion Stanford, national runner-up Cal, 10th-place finisher USC, and 17th-place finisher UCLA.
In addition to 15 school records, the Aztecs recorded 33 individual and relay times in 2018-19 that rank among the program's all-time top 10. The Aztecs garnered 30 All-Mountain West honors after the championship run in February, split among 14 different individuals and four relay teams.
Allnutt, who also serves as the team's recruiting coordinator, came to the Mesa after a two-year stint as a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Hawai'i. As a student-athlete at Hawai'i, Allnutt was a member of the 2011 Conference USA Championship team, where he finished in the top five of all three events in which he competed.
Allnutt, a native of Forest Grove, Oregon, is a 2011 graduate of Hawai'i with a bachelor's of science degree in kinesiology and exercise science. He received a master's degree in kinesiology from Hawai’i in 2014 as he completed his thesis on the biomechanics of swimming.
Stephen Allnutt