Home UVA Swimming: Did a staff member have to leave over a transfer recruit?
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UVA Swimming: Did a staff member have to leave over a transfer recruit?

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Photo: © soem (Generated with AI)/stock.adobe.com

Back in April, UVA Swimming landed a star recruit from the transfer portal, Teagan O’Dell, the second highest scoring freshman at the 2026 NCAA Championships while swimming for Cal.

The word behind the scenes in swimming circles is that O’Dell’s decision to transfer to Virginia is why Logan Redondo, who coached O’Dell during her time with the Mission Viejo Nadadores youth program, left the staff of head coach Todd DeSorbo last week, after just one year on Grounds.

An AFP reader alerted me to the possible connection between the two moves, noting that O’Dell left MVN during her high school senior season, along with several members of the MVN team.

I’ve come across multiple vagueposting references to suspected issues with the MVN swim team on Redondo’s watch, though nothing substantive.

And to be fair to Redondo here, his new job is at Minnesota, where he was a member of the swim program, and he was decent – he qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2012 and 2016.

And it appears that the job at the alma mater is a step up – he’ll be an assistant coach at Minnesota; at Virginia, Redondo had the title of Director of Professional Performance and Data Analysis.

If this was a trade for DeSorbo, to agree to find Redondo another job so that O’Dell would agree to matriculate on Grounds, I mean, smart move there by the ol’ head coach.

O’Dell was the #2 ranked recruit in the Class of 2025, and according to SwimSwam.com, she made the NCAA ‘A’ final in all three of her individual swims, finishing second in the 200 IM (1:52.76), third in the 400 IM (3:59.43) and sixth in the 200 back (1:49.70).

That’s the kind of swimmer who can help you win a seventh straight national title.

Directors of Professional Performance and Data Analysis are a dime a dozen.


ICYMI: UVA Swimming


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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].

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