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Paul Davidson, who has more than 20 years of experience coaching at the collegiate and club levels, is in his third year as an assistant swimming coach at USC.
In 2008, Davidson was part of a staff that helped Vanni Mangoni win the Pac-10 title in the 400y IM and that guided Richard Gosper to break the school record in the 50y free and score in the event at the NCAA Championships. He also worked with a women's squad that had five All-Americans, including two-time NCAA champion Rebecca Soni.
In 2007, Davidson helped guide six Trojan men's swimmers to All-American honors, including two-time NCAA title winner Larsen Jensen. Soni also won an NCAA title for the women.
Davidson came to USC after serving as an assistant coach at UNLV in 2006, where he coached the distance groups and handled women's recruiting. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Cal Lutheran from 2003-05, helping to build the program from scratch.
Davidson's other collegiate coaching experience came at Michigan, a three-year stint from 1994 to 1996. While working in Ann Arbor, he also was an assistant coach for Club Wolverine. During his stint in Michigan, the women's team finished second at the 1995 NCAA Championships and Club Wolverine won a title at the U.S. Summer Nationals that same year.
From 1996 to 2005, Davidson was head coach at Conejo Simi Aquatics in Simi Valley, Calif. Under his tutelage, the club produced several U.S. Olympic Trials and National Championships qualifiers, grew in membership and won the Coastal section championship in 2000.
Davidson began his coaching career with the SoCal Aquatics Association in Tustin, Calif., where he served as senior coach and assistant national coach from 1985-1994 before moving on to Michigan.
He was a member of the UC Irvine water polo team from 1980-85 and was a part of the NCAA Championship team in 1982. He graduated from UCI in 1988 with a bachelor of arts degree in film studies and comparative literature.
