Former head coach of men’s swimming and diving at Texas A&M Jay Holmes has announced his retirement from coaching. His retirement comes just 10 days after the school announced the hiring of Blaire Bachman as the first Director of Swimming and Diving.
“It’s been an honor and privilege to represent Texas A&M University with the swimming and diving program,” Holmes said. “It’s been a great run, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s been a privilege to be a part of it. I want to thank my wife, Annette, and my kids, Meredith and Cooper, for allowing me to do this all these years. I’m thankful for all the women and men that I was privileged to coach and I will be forever indebted to Mel Nash, who recruited me to Texas A&M and gave me a job all those years ago. I want to thank Bill Byrne for the trust he showed when he hired me as the head coach in 2004. I learned so much from Mel Nash, as well as my coaching staff over the years, Doug Boyd, Ryan Mallam, Jason Calanog, and Mike Walker. I’m thankful for it all and I had a great time doing it. Now it’s someone else’s turn, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Coach (Blaire) Anderson and her staff are able to accomplish in the future.”
Holmes spent 20 years as the head coach of the Aggie men as he was elevated to men’s head coach in 2004. He has spent the last 40 years with Texas A&M in various capacities.
Holmes spent his collegiate career with Texas A&M specializing as a breaststroke and butterflyer under head coach Mel Nash. After spending four season with the team, he was a student assistant while taking courses in fall 1984. After graduating, he left the program briefly to begin a sign company with his brother but returned to the program as an assistant coach in 1986. He was an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s programs until their split in 1995 when he then focused on the men’s team with Nash. He took over as men’s head coach from Nash in 2004.
During Holmes’s tenure, the Aggie men finished in the top 25 at NCAAs in 17 out of 19 seasons. Holmes also guided Shaine Casas to the school’s first ever title in 2021 as Casas won the NCAA title in the 200 IM.
The retirement announcement comes just 10 days after the school announced it would hire Blaire Bachman from Virginia to take over both the men’s and women’s programs as Bachman is the school’s first-ever Director of Swimming and Diving. The school’s head coach of women’s swimming and diving from this past season Steve Bultman announced his retirement set for the end of the season in January.