Women's Swimming | 9/2/2026 1:52:00 PM

Utah Tech head women's swimming coach Shawn King has announced the addition of Justin Wright to his coaching staff ahead of the 2026-27 season. 

Wright brings to the Trailblazer program two seasons of NCAA Division I coaching experience, a 2018 U.S. national title, and five years of competition experience as a member of the USA Swimming National Team.

"We are thrilled to have Justin joining us, he brings a wealth of competitive experience and an understanding of the sport at the elite level," Coach King said. "Justin is passionate and constantly learning, searching for ways he can improve to help our athletes. Adjusting to our athletes' needs is a central focus of our program, and we look forward to continuing to grow and improve with his assistance." 

Wright comes to Utah Tech from UC Santa Barbara, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach and served as the program's recruiting coordinator in 2025-26. In his first year, the Gauchos swept the women's and men's team titles at the 2025 Big West Championships behind 82 lifetime-best swims and 38 top-three finishes, and were named UCSB Athletics' Team of the Year. 

Over his two seasons with the Gauchos' program, UCSB swimmers combined for 16 Big West event titles, 17 school records and an NCAA qualifier on the women's side. He also coached at Santa Barbara Swim Club from 2024-26. 

Prior to his time at UCSB, Wright coached at the North Carolina Aquatic Club in Chapel Hill, N.C., from 2020-24, where he also ran the club's masters program his first two years. 

As an athlete, Wright was the 2018 U.S. national champion in the 200-meter butterfly, touching in 1:54.63 to become the seventh-fastest American ever in the event at the time. He finished that season ranked sixth in the world. 

Wright spent five years on the U.S. National Team from 2017-21 and represented the U.S. at the 2012 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, the 2017 World University Games, the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships, the 2018 Short Course World Championships and the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. 

A three-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier, he raced professionally for A3 Performance through 2021, training in Tucson, Ariz., and later in Chapel Hill. 

Wright swam collegiately at Arizona from 2014-18 and was a two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Pac-12 runner-up in the 200 butterfly and team captain as a senior. His fifth-place finish at the 2018 NCAA Championships came in a school-record 1:40.16, and he was named Arizona's Male Junior Athlete of the Year in 2017. 

A native of Fresno, Calif., Wright earned his Bachelor's degree in Business Management from Arizona in 2018.