West Virginia Adds Canadian Olympian Sydney Pickrem As Assistant Coach
Canadian Olympian Sydney Pickrem is joining West Virginia as an assistant coach, the school announced on Thursday.
Pickrem will compete in Paris at her third Olympics. She won bronze in the medley relay in Tokyo to go with seven career long-course World Championships medals, including a silver in the 200 individual medley in Doha this year.
“I am so excited to become part of the WVU family,” Pickrem said in a university statement. “From the moment I got the opportunity to become part of the staff, they’ve made it feel like home. This team is going to be something special, and the future is bright.”
Pickrem has a long history with the U.S., the representative of Nova Scotia being raised in Florida. She was an 11-time All-American and team captain at Texas A&M. She was the university’s two-time athlete of the year, and helped the Aggies to four SEC titles, as the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2016. She received her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2020.
“Sydney is a really exciting hire for us,” head coach Brent MacDonald said. “It will be great to have such a strong example of grit, perseverance and success on the pool deck every day. In my conversations with her, it was clear that she has a passion for teaching the sport and what it takes to be great. She has been readying herself to take a coaching role over the past few years, and we’re excited to have her land in Morgantown after the Olympics.”
Pickrem is 27. She’s qualified at Canadian Olympic Trials to swim in Paris in the 200 breaststroke and 200 IM, while she could also see duty on Canadian relays. She has a long international history that includes a gold medal at the World Short-Course Championships in the 200 IM in 2021 in Abu Dhabi. She is a two-time gold medalist at the Pan Am Games in 2023 and has medaled at the Pan Pacific Championships and World Junior Championships. Outside of the pool, she has chaired Swimming Canada’s Olympic Program Athlete Council.
