Schreifels Takes Helm of CSUN Swim Program

Barry Schreifels, an assistant swim coach at Arizona State for the past four seasons, has been hired to replace Pete Accardy as Cal State Northridge’s men’s and women’s swimming coach.

Schreifels, 31, will take over the Matador program on Sept. 1, when Accardy retires after 24 seasons at CS Northridge.

Accardy, 52, guided Northridge to 13 NCAA Division II team titles during his tenure.

The Matadors won nine men’s titles, including five in a row from 1981-85 and the women won four titles, topped by three consecutive victories from 1987 to 1989.

Schreifels, a 1984 graduate of Western Washington University, was an assistant at Ohio University from 1986 to 1989. He earned a master’s degree in athletic administration from Ohio U. in 1988.

“I was very pleased to support the committee’s recommendation to hire Barry,” Northridge Athletic Director Bob Hiegert said in a release. “I think he brings to us a good, solid Division I background after coaching at a fine Division I swimming program at Arizona State.

“He was very active in ASU’s recruiting and should be able to help us immediately with Division I athletes. He’s had success on both the men’s and women’s sides in youth club swimming and I think that will be helpful to our program, because he’s going to be directing both men’s and women’s swimming at Northridge.”

In addition to his stints at Arizona State and Ohio, Schreifels was the head coach of Team America/Sun Devil Aquatics from 1990 to 1993, the Mustang Swim Club in 1992 and the Athens Swim Club from 1986 to 1989.

He will take over a Northridge program which has competed at the Division I level for the past three seasons. The Matadors finished second in both the men’s and women’s competitions in this year’s Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference championships.