Vol. Assistant Coach Emily Lundstrom

EMILY LUNDSTROM

VOL. ASSISTANT COACH FOURTH SEASON SOUTH DAKOTA, ’18

The 2021-22 season marks Emily Lundstrom’s fourth year on the Penn State swimming & diving staff as a volunteer assistant coach.

Lundstrom has primarily coached the sprint group, specifically sprint freestyle and butterfly. She has helped lead the team to impressive finishes at both the Big Ten and NCAA Championships and has assisted in coaching student-athletes that represented Penn State in the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, Pan American games, Mexican Nationals and Phillips 66 U.S. Nationals.

Three Nittany Lions competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, including Gabe Castano, who competed in the 50 freestyle for Mexico.

In 2020-21, The Nittany Lions jumped right back into preparations and into the water, posting milestones of success with four school records, 18 top-10 times, dozens of personal bests and the program’s 21st Big Ten champion in Michael Daly (400 IM). In back-to-back years, at least five Penn State competitors have qualified for the NCAA Championships, with seven who would have represented the Nittany Lions in the 2020 NCAA Championships.

Lundstrom received her Master of Science Degree in Kinesiology with an Exercise Physiology specialization from Penn State in August 2020. She is currently furthering her education at PSU pursuing her doctorate degree in exercise physiology. She is currently employed at Penn State in the Kinesiology Department as a graduate teaching assistant and a research assistant.

Outside of Penn State, Lundstrom has coached at the swim camps of Texas and Stanford, as well as coaching several club swim teams in Minnesota. She has also interned with Performance Athletix, an elite performance group. As a performance enhancement specialist and coach with numerous professional and elite athletes from many different sports, she was responsible for creating and implementing sport-specific, individualized strength and performance workouts into athlete’s training sessions, as well as assessing and analyzing other factors influencing response to training. She also interned with Avera Sports Performance Center, where she helped facilitate strength development in youth and high school athletes, and rehabilitation through exercise in individuals with physical injuries and disabilities.

As a student-athlete originating from Minnesota, Lundstrom was an AllAmerican in swimming and state champion on the Olympic-style weightlifting team. She continued to swim at the University of South Dakota, specializing in sprint freestyle and butterfly. She achieved numerous Distinguished Summit League Scholar statuses and was on the Summit League Academic Honor Roll. In addition, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology exercise science with a minor in psychology in 2018.

REBECCA STAFFORD

GRAD. ASSISTANT COACH SECOND SEASON YOUNGSTOWN STATE, ’17

Rebecca Stafford joined the Penn State Swimming & Diving coaching staff in January 2020. She is serving as a Graduate Assistant Diving Coach. Stafford has also gained experience as a graduate intern in the Penn State Sports Psychology office. Stafford holds a Australian National Level 2 Coaching certificate and Level 4 FINA International judging certification. Stafford had a positive impact on the 2020/2021 Diving season. The Penn State Diving program made vast improvements leading to multiple scoring athletes at the 2021 B1G Championship. 4 Penn State divers qualified for the NCAA Zone A Championship with sophomore Kevin Sullivan qualifying for this first NCAA Championships. Prior to Penn State, Stafford was the head coach for RAPS Diving club and Assistant coach for PDC diving club from 2017-2020, where a combined 17 athletes qualified for the 2019 Australian Age Nationals, including multiple top 3 finishes. Stafford also has prior work experience with Diving Australia, working as a National Talent Coach for the National Talent Development program. Her mentors include Ady Hinchliffe and Vyninka Arlow, two highly decorated international coaches. Stafford was a four-year member of the diving team at Youngstown State, graduating in 2017 with a degree in photography. She placed in the Top 3 at the Horizon League Diving Championships and qualified for the NCAA Division I Zone C Championships in all four years.

DEMETRIS OGBURN

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS FIRST SEASON MOBILE, ’17

Ogburn joined the Penn State Swimming & Diving staff as director of operations in September 2021.

Ogburn has served as the Aquatics Coordinator at Penn State since January 2020. Prior to arriving at Penn State, Ogburn was an Aquatics Administrator at Wisconsin (2019) and North Carolina (2018-2019). He graduated from the University of Mobile in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology.