After leading the UW-Oshkosh women’s swimming and diving team to a third-place finish at the 2026 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship, head coach Christopher Culp was named WIAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his 11-year career.

“It is truly an honor to be recognized by the other coaches in the conference,” Culp said. “It’s exciting to see our program continuing to grow and improve each year, and this award reflects the hard work of our entire team and staff.”

Prior to 2026, he and Joel Rollings of UW-Whitewater were named co-coaches of the year in 2018, before Culp earned the title outright in both 2023 and 2024. He is now the third women’s coach in WIAC history to receive the accolade four or more times, preceded by Rich Pein of UW-Stevens Point with 11 wins, and UW-La Crosse’s Al Boelk who has held the honor five times.

All of this was new news for Culp.

“I honestly just found this out, so that was pretty cool to hear,” Culp said. “More than anything, it solidifies what we are doing year after year and reinforces our commitment to constantly evolve, improve, and push our program forward.”

During the four-day event at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, the Titan women compiled 467 points, placing in third behind runner-up UW-Eau Claire, who scored 894.5 points, and champions La Crosse, who won the title with 994 points. This was the highest placement for UWO since 2002, when the team placed third with 616 points for the black and gold. 

But the season as a whole was supposed to sing a different tune in Culp’s eyes.

“To be honest, I thought this was going to be a rebuilding year,” Culp said. “We graduated most of our top scorers, and with who we had returning and coming in, I expected it would take time to match our past success. This group of new athletes really surprised me. They were ‘all in’ from day one and worked extremely hard throughout the season. That mindset contributed greatly to the significant improvement we saw this year.”

In addition to the “all in” mentality, Culp also said that the program’s success is about the people involved within the organization as well.

“We have an outstanding coaching staff that contributes in recruiting, strength and conditioning, diving, and technical development,” Culp said. “We also have tremendous faculty and staff who support our student-athletes both in and out of the classroom. Our athletic department is built on strong values and a culture of excellence. When you surround yourself with great people, growth and success become part of the process.”

When looking back at the last decade Culp said his idea of home went from the west coast to Titan nation.

“Moving here from California 11 years ago was scary, to say the least,” Culp said. “For a long time, I still referred to California as ‘home,’ but we don’t do that anymore. UWO and the city of Oshkosh are home. We love it here. Being part of UWO swimming and diving and the UWO Athletic Department is truly an honor. We will continue striving to build a championship program in one of the most competitive conferences in the nation.”