Excerpt from WSU Raiders.com
Wright State Athletics is saddened by the passing of former swimming and diving coach Jeff Cavana, who passed away this week. Cavana was a 2006 inductee into Wright State's Mary & Al Schwarz Hall of Fame.
Cavana served as the head coach of the Raider programs for seven years, leading Wright State to three fourth-place finishes in the NCAA Division II Championships. His men's team finished fourth in the nation in 1985 and 1987 while his women's team garnered fourth place national honors in 1986. In 1987, he led Wright State in its first-ever season versus NCAA Division I competition.
In total, Cavana coached 76 All-American swimmers, three national champions and five national runner-ups during his time with the Raiders.
Cavana went on to serve as an assistant coach at LSU for 10 seasons before taking over as head coach at LSU in 2000. As a head coach and assistant coach, Cavana helped lead the LSU women's team to a top-20 national ranking in nine of his 16 seasons, while the LSU men's team achieved seven top-20 finishes in the national rankings. The LSU women enjoyed a top-25 national ranking in 13 of his 15 seasons and finished in the top 20 nine times, while the LSU men finished in the top 20 seven times.
Nationally recognized for his coaching abilities, Cavana was selected as the Olympic swimming coach for Jamaica for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, where he guided former LSU All-American Sion Brinn to a fourth-place finish in the B-final of the 100-meter freestyle competition.
Cavana graduated from Bellevue High School in Bellevue, Kentucky where he was a multi-sport athlete before attending Western Kentucky University as a four-year letterman on the swimming and diving team and served as captain his senior year.
