Eastern Michigan Athletics
Swimming & Diving
Perkins, Derek
Derek Perkins
- Title:
- Head Swimming Coach
- Email:
- dperki16@emich.edu
- Phone:
- 734.487.3859
Derek Perkins was named as the ninth Head Women’s Swimming Coach at Eastern Michigan University on Aug. 30, 2019. Perkins enters his sixth season at EMU in 2024-25.
In the 2023-24 season, Perkins’ Eagles finished sixth at the MAC Swimming & Diving Championships. In his fifth season at the helm of the program, Perkins led freshman Marlee Christie to break an EMU freshman record in the 100y freestyle, swimming the distance in 50.97. His upperclassmen also swam to new heights as Abby Szadorski and Kiersten Russell each improved their top-10 program times. Szadorski shaved .16 seconds off her 200y breaststroke time, as she now stands eighth in program history at 2:16.60. Russell took off .41 seconds off her 100y backstroke time, moving up to fifth in the program top-10 at 54.33.
Szadorski also cracked the top-10 leaderboards in the 100y breaststroke, as she touched the wall in 1:02.84, good for seventh in EMU history. Two other Eagles etched their names into the top-10 in the event as both Taylor Harris and Nina Larosa swam the event in 1:03.00, slotting just behind Szadorski in eighth in program history.
Perkins also led a contingent of Eagles to prestigious postseason meets as Eastern qualified 11 swimmers to compete at the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) National Invitational Championships.
In 2022-23, Perkins mentored Kiersten Russell and Alexandra Kudo to All-MAC Second Team selections, respectively. Russell's 1:58.19 in the 200 backstroke at the 2022-23 MAC Championships, Feb. 22-25., was not only a personal-best mark, but went down as the No. 4 overall time in EMU program history. Kudo rounded out the group of top-10 finishers with a 16:56.88 in the 1650 freestyle event, just missing out on a top-10 program mark.
In 2021-22, Perkins helped senior Riley Hofmann notch a second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.11) and third in the 400-yard individual medley (4:16.76) at the MAC Championships, Feb. 26. For her efforts, Hofmann was tabbed as a First Team All-MAC selection. Perkins also guided his swimmers to 17 top-10 program finishes in 2022.
In the 2020-21 season, Perkins led the Green and White to a sixth place finish at the MAC Championships, April 17, hosted by EMU. Individually, swimmers Ali Staver and Riley Hofmann both notched season-best swims in the 200 butterfly preliminaries, with Staver making the championship final and earning sixth-place, 2:00.15, while Hofmann tabbed a spot in the consolation final with her 2:02.28 time, good for 11th in the field at the MAC Championships. Staver would also be honored as a Second Team All-MAC selection.
In his first season at the helm of the Eagles’ swimming program, Perkins guided Eastern Michigan to a third place finish at the Mid-American Conference Championships. Individually, Alyssa Shugarman became the MAC Champion in the 500 and 1,650 yard freestyle events. Shugarman and Claire Young were each named to the All-MAC First Team, while Ali Staver garnered Second Team All-MAC accolades. Also excelling academically, Perkins’ team was named a College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America Team for both the fall 2019 and winter 2020 semesters and landed 18 on the Academic All-MAC squad.
A native of Georgetown, Ky., Perkins has 16 years of collegiate coaching experience, including the last eight seasons as the associate head coach at the University of Kentucky (2011-19). He also coached at Clemson University (2009-11), Emory University (2004-09), and Transylvania University (2002-04). Working with both men’s and women’s programs throughout his career, Perkins was named the 2011 CollegeSwimming.com Rising Assistant Coach of the Year.
Most recently, Perkins was the associate head coach at Kentucky after being elevated to the position prior to the 2015-16 campaign. In that role, he served as the primary middle/sprint coach. He also had additional responsibilities as the director of internal operations and academic director.
With the Wildcats, the women recorded six consecutive top-25 finishes at the NCAA Championships (2013-19), while the men recorded three top-25 finishes (2012, 2013, and 2019) in that time span. Moreover, more than 74 school records have been rewritten since 2012.
Notable of Perkins’ stint in Lexington, he helped coach then-junior Danielle Galyer to UK’s first swimming national title in 2016. She won the 200-yard backstroke with the sixth-fastest time in U.S. Open history.
Perkins swam at Kentucky from 1998-2002. He returned to UK in 2011 after serving as an assistant coach at Clemson, where he worked primarily as the Tigers’ sprint coach. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Transylvania University and has also spent time as an assistant coach at Emory University.
Perkins was named the 2011 CollegeSwimming.com Rising Assistant Coach of the Year while at Clemson and played an integral part in the Tigers’ men’s team earning its first top-25 finish in school history at the NCAA Championships. Under Perkins, Clemson had four individual NCAA qualifiers and their first men’s relay qualifier since 1989. Perkins coached the 200 medley relay and 50 freestyle event winners at the 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. Under his tutelage, 20 school records were broken at Clemson
At Emory, Perkins served as the assistant swim coach, recruiting coordinator and aquatics coordinator from 2004-09. During his five seasons at Emory, he coached back-to-back national championship teams in 2005 and 2006, 12 individual national champions, four relay national champions, 58 All-Americans and 55 conference champions. In total, an impressive 93 school records were broken in the five seasons Perkins was at EU.
Prior to his time at Emory, Perkins coached at Transylvania from 2002-04. There, he organized seasonal swim workouts and planned and designed strength and conditioning programs. He helped lead the swimming and diving program to its first-ever conference championship and coached the Transylvania Student-Athlete of the Year in 2004. Ten team records were set during Perkins’ two years as assistant coach.
Perkins closed out his swimming career at Kentucky in 2002 and graduated in 2003 with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering.
He and his wife, Cassie, who was a standout diver for Transylvania, have two children, Halle and Riley.
In the 2023-24 season, Perkins’ Eagles finished sixth at the MAC Swimming & Diving Championships. In his fifth season at the helm of the program, Perkins led freshman Marlee Christie to break an EMU freshman record in the 100y freestyle, swimming the distance in 50.97. His upperclassmen also swam to new heights as Abby Szadorski and Kiersten Russell each improved their top-10 program times. Szadorski shaved .16 seconds off her 200y breaststroke time, as she now stands eighth in program history at 2:16.60. Russell took off .41 seconds off her 100y backstroke time, moving up to fifth in the program top-10 at 54.33.
Szadorski also cracked the top-10 leaderboards in the 100y breaststroke, as she touched the wall in 1:02.84, good for seventh in EMU history. Two other Eagles etched their names into the top-10 in the event as both Taylor Harris and Nina Larosa swam the event in 1:03.00, slotting just behind Szadorski in eighth in program history.
Perkins also led a contingent of Eagles to prestigious postseason meets as Eastern qualified 11 swimmers to compete at the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) National Invitational Championships.
In 2022-23, Perkins mentored Kiersten Russell and Alexandra Kudo to All-MAC Second Team selections, respectively. Russell's 1:58.19 in the 200 backstroke at the 2022-23 MAC Championships, Feb. 22-25., was not only a personal-best mark, but went down as the No. 4 overall time in EMU program history. Kudo rounded out the group of top-10 finishers with a 16:56.88 in the 1650 freestyle event, just missing out on a top-10 program mark.
In 2021-22, Perkins helped senior Riley Hofmann notch a second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.11) and third in the 400-yard individual medley (4:16.76) at the MAC Championships, Feb. 26. For her efforts, Hofmann was tabbed as a First Team All-MAC selection. Perkins also guided his swimmers to 17 top-10 program finishes in 2022.
In the 2020-21 season, Perkins led the Green and White to a sixth place finish at the MAC Championships, April 17, hosted by EMU. Individually, swimmers Ali Staver and Riley Hofmann both notched season-best swims in the 200 butterfly preliminaries, with Staver making the championship final and earning sixth-place, 2:00.15, while Hofmann tabbed a spot in the consolation final with her 2:02.28 time, good for 11th in the field at the MAC Championships. Staver would also be honored as a Second Team All-MAC selection.
In his first season at the helm of the Eagles’ swimming program, Perkins guided Eastern Michigan to a third place finish at the Mid-American Conference Championships. Individually, Alyssa Shugarman became the MAC Champion in the 500 and 1,650 yard freestyle events. Shugarman and Claire Young were each named to the All-MAC First Team, while Ali Staver garnered Second Team All-MAC accolades. Also excelling academically, Perkins’ team was named a College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America Team for both the fall 2019 and winter 2020 semesters and landed 18 on the Academic All-MAC squad.
A native of Georgetown, Ky., Perkins has 16 years of collegiate coaching experience, including the last eight seasons as the associate head coach at the University of Kentucky (2011-19). He also coached at Clemson University (2009-11), Emory University (2004-09), and Transylvania University (2002-04). Working with both men’s and women’s programs throughout his career, Perkins was named the 2011 CollegeSwimming.com Rising Assistant Coach of the Year.
Most recently, Perkins was the associate head coach at Kentucky after being elevated to the position prior to the 2015-16 campaign. In that role, he served as the primary middle/sprint coach. He also had additional responsibilities as the director of internal operations and academic director.
With the Wildcats, the women recorded six consecutive top-25 finishes at the NCAA Championships (2013-19), while the men recorded three top-25 finishes (2012, 2013, and 2019) in that time span. Moreover, more than 74 school records have been rewritten since 2012.
Notable of Perkins’ stint in Lexington, he helped coach then-junior Danielle Galyer to UK’s first swimming national title in 2016. She won the 200-yard backstroke with the sixth-fastest time in U.S. Open history.
Perkins swam at Kentucky from 1998-2002. He returned to UK in 2011 after serving as an assistant coach at Clemson, where he worked primarily as the Tigers’ sprint coach. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Transylvania University and has also spent time as an assistant coach at Emory University.
Perkins was named the 2011 CollegeSwimming.com Rising Assistant Coach of the Year while at Clemson and played an integral part in the Tigers’ men’s team earning its first top-25 finish in school history at the NCAA Championships. Under Perkins, Clemson had four individual NCAA qualifiers and their first men’s relay qualifier since 1989. Perkins coached the 200 medley relay and 50 freestyle event winners at the 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. Under his tutelage, 20 school records were broken at Clemson
At Emory, Perkins served as the assistant swim coach, recruiting coordinator and aquatics coordinator from 2004-09. During his five seasons at Emory, he coached back-to-back national championship teams in 2005 and 2006, 12 individual national champions, four relay national champions, 58 All-Americans and 55 conference champions. In total, an impressive 93 school records were broken in the five seasons Perkins was at EU.
Prior to his time at Emory, Perkins coached at Transylvania from 2002-04. There, he organized seasonal swim workouts and planned and designed strength and conditioning programs. He helped lead the swimming and diving program to its first-ever conference championship and coached the Transylvania Student-Athlete of the Year in 2004. Ten team records were set during Perkins’ two years as assistant coach.
Perkins closed out his swimming career at Kentucky in 2002 and graduated in 2003 with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering.
He and his wife, Cassie, who was a standout diver for Transylvania, have two children, Halle and Riley.
| The Derek Perkins File | ||
| Name: | Derek Thomas Perkins | |
| High School: | Scott County H.S. - Georgetown, Ky. | |
| College: | University of Kentucky - Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical engineering - 2003 | |
| Family: | Wife - Cassie; Children - Halle and Riley; | |
| Professional Experience | ||
| Year | School/Company | Position |
| 2019-Present | Eastern Michigan University | Head Coach |
| 2015-19 | University of Kentucky | Associate Head Coach |
| 2011-15 | University of Kentucky | Assistant Coach |
| 2009-11 | Clemson University | Assistant Coach |
| 2004-09 | Emory University | Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator |
| 2002-04 | Transylvania University | Assistant Coach |
| 1998-2002 | University of Kentucky | Swimming student-athlete |
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