Kellen Beckwith returns in 2025-26 for his 14th year as an assistant coach with the Denison University men's and women's swimming & diving teams and his sixth year since being promoted to Associate Head Coach following the 2019-20 campaign.
The 2024-25 men’s swimming and diving season brought immense success once again, this time achieving the greatest feat: winning the program’s sixth NCAA national championship IN Greensboro, North Carolina. The season was also highlighted by a win over Kenyon in the regular season, and capturing the NCAC Championship, finishing 419.5 points ahead of second-place Kenyon. The team saw 36 All-American performances, with 16 earning first-team and 15 getting second-team. Three swimmers were also named Academic All-Americans, and 18 were recognized as CSCAA Scholar All-Americans.
In the 2024-25 season for women’s swimming and diving, the team finished fourth at the 2025 NCAA Championships, and highlighted the season with 26 All-Americans. The team would finish second at the NCAC Championships just behind Kenyon, and would stay in the top-five consistently throughout the season and finish fourth in the nation. The Big Red had three members of the team named Academic All-Americans, and 15 members were selected CSCAA Scholar All-Americans.
In 13 seasons with the Big Red, Denison's men have won three national championships (2016, 2018, 2019, 2025) to go along with three runner-up national finishes and two third-place finishes. The women, meanwhile, have logged nine top-four national finishes, culminating with the second national championship in program history in 2023 in Greensboro, North Carolina. At the conference level, the men's and women's programs have combined for 15 championships during Beckwith's tenure with the Big Red.
Beckwith came to Granville after one year as the assistant swimming and diving coach at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. A 2011 graduate of Olivet College, Beckwith graduated Summa Cum Laude with a major in mathematics. A four-year member of the Olivet swimming and diving team, Beckwith was a four-time All-American backstroker and three-time Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association champion.
He was twice named to the NCAA’s Elite 88 and in 2011, he was named the Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year. That prestigious honor came after earning first-team Academic All-America® honors and four College Swimming Coaches Association Scholar All-America awards.
On October 8, 2021, Beckwith was inducted into the Olivet College Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2021 as a part of the college's Alumni Awards ceremony.
While serving as an assistant at Hope, Beckwith headed the recruitment efforts for the Flying Dutch program. He coached five athletes to All-American status and one who was named to the NCAA’s Elite 89.
In December of 2015, Beckwith received his Master's in coaching education from Ohio University's Patton College of Education.
