Phone:(408) 924-1225
Email: sage.hopkins@sjsu.edu
Sage Hopkins is in his 16th season as the head coach of the San Jose State University women's swimming and diving program. He was named to the post full-time in April, 2006, after serving the 2005-06 season as the interim head coach.
Under Hopkins' leadership, the Spartans enjoyed several of their best seasons ever. His dual meet record as San Jose State's head coach after the 2020 season is 111-45-2. Hopkins became the first Spartan women's swimming and diving head coach to record 100 dual meet victories in the 2018 season.
The Spartans have had unprecedented success in the classroom under Hopkins' leadership with the program being named a College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America team in each of the last 15 semesters.
In 2019-20, Hopkins and the Spartans were finally able to swim in a pool of their own after five years, as the Student Recreation and Aquatic Center (SRAC) debuted in November as the program's new home. The Spartans posted a 3-0-1 record in dual meets in the new pool and finished 5-2-1 overall on the season. Four SJSU swimmers earned all-conference honors at the 2020 Mountain West Championships. The Spartans took part in the shortened National Invitational Championships where they placed 12th and recorded five times in the school's top-10 list in the one day competition that was ended early due to COVID-19.
Hopkins led the Spartans in 2018-19 to a sixth-place finish at the CSCAA National Invitational Championships. Senior Brenna Bushey was a force to be reckoned with at the championships as she had three individual top-five finishes, set a new school record in the 50 fly and was part of three relays that had top-five finishes. Five Spartans also earned All-Mountain West honors at the 2019 MW Championships.
2017-18 saw Hopkins lead the team to eight all-conference awards at the 2018 Mountain West Championships. The trio of Brittany Heng, Brenna Bushey and Colleen Humel competed at the U.S. Winter National Championships, with all three qualifying for the finals in the respective races. Eight Spartans competed at the CSCAA National Invitational at season's end, with Humel putting a cap on her tremendous Spartan career by winning "Swimmer of the Meet" honors after winning two individual events and swimming a leg in the Spartans' 200 medley relay win. Over three days, she broke multiple records including both school and Mountain West marks.
In 2016-17, a trio of Spartans earned All-Mountain West honors. Diver Cari Reiswig became the first diver in school history to earn All-MW honors in all three dives at the 2017 MW Championships. She advanced the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships for the third straight season. Swimmers Brenna Bushey and Colleen Humel set new school records in the 100 fly and 100 back, respectively, to cap the season. The duo had previously qualified for the Olympic Trials earlier that year in July.
2015-16 saw the Spartans' best conference finish to date of sixth place. Senior Riley Spitser led the way for four Spartans that claimed a total of seven all-conference nods. Spitser set four new school records in freestyle events at the championships. SJSU finished the year with a 7-3 dual meet mark.
Hopkins led SJSU to a 10-1 dual meet record in 2014-15. At the Mountain West Championships, the Spartans tallied 10 all-conference honors led by the MW Freshman of the Year, Morgan McCormick. McCormick became the first Spartan swimmer to win a Mountain West Championship as she claimed the 200 backstroke title with a conference-record time of 1:54.13. She earned a spot competing at the NCAA Championships where she swam the 100 and 200 back, and 200 IM, and set the new school record in the 100 backstroke. On the diving platform, Cari Reiswig became the first Spartan diver to earn All-MW honors and finished in the top-5 in both the 1 and 3 meter dives.
In 2013-14, in their first season participating in the Mountain West, the Spartans finished the year with a 7-2 dual meet record and saw five individuals earn all-conference honors at the MW Championships.
In 2012-13, Hopkins led the Spartans to their second conference win in a row and finished the season with a dual meet record of 9-1. Hopkins was named Swimming Coach of the Year for his second year in a row. Senior Marissa DeWames won her second-straight conference title in the 50 free.
The 2011-12 team became the first to win a women's swimming and diving conference championship in school history. Individually, Hopkins was named the Western Athletic Conference women's swimming Coach of the Year and DeWames was named the Athlete of the Year. DeWames and four other Spartans went on to compete in the 2012 U.S. Olympics team time trials in Omaha.
In 2008-09, Hopkins directed the Spartans to a best-ever dual record of 16-1 thanks to an incredible 16-meet win streak following an opening loss at perennial national power Stanford, which included San Jose State's first win over Western Athletic Conference foe Nevada in 23 years. The Spartans also posted a program-best runner-up finish at the annual Nike Cup in November, and matched its highest placement of fourth at the WAC Championship in San Antonio, Texas, in March, when Spartan swimmers broke 17 school standards in four days.
A top-notch recruiting class by Hopkins and his staff netted the program's first WAC Freshman of the Year in two-time conference champion Heather Denman, who was previously named the Nike Cup Most Outstanding Female Swimmer. That year, the Spartans totaled 26 school marks in swimming, eight individual NCAA 'B' cuts, the first relay NCAA 'B' qualifier in program history, seven first-team All-WAC and 21 second-team All-WAC performances, 15 WAC medals (2 gold, 10 silver, 3 bronze), seven WAC Swimmers of the Week, six WAC Divers of the Week, two CSCAA Scholar All-America honorable mention selections and 12 Academic All-WAC honorees.
Hopkins' 2007-08 team rallied to finish fourth on the final day of the Western Athletic Conference Championship, matching its program-best placement from the two previous years since his arrival. Among the Spartans' 19 medals were 10 golds, with 11 first-team All-WAC honors among a total of 33 all-conference distinctions, all program highs.
Senior captain Brie Marhenke starred at the event for the second time, posting her second sweep of the sprint freestyle events while helping two relays to first-place finishes, participating in a trio of school-record swims and posting four NCAA `B' cuts. She and Hopkins made a return trip to the NCAA Championships. Four straight victories allowed the Spartans to conclude the season with an 8-4 dual meet record, including a 3-1 mark against WAC foes and a first-ever win at the University of the Pacific in dramatic fashion by a single point on the meet's final relay.
In 2007-08, San Jose State made its first appearance in the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Division I Power Ranking at No. 22. Hopkins also had two of his former swimmers, Marhenke and Ashley Vrieze, qualify for the 2008 USA Olympic Team Trials in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke, respectively. Fourteen Spartans picked up Academic All-WAC honors. A total of four school standards fell.
The 2006-07 Spartans wound up with three medals, three first-team and seven second-team All-WAC honorees, three school records, one NCAA `B' cut and two USA Swimming National Championships qualifiers while placing fourth at the conference meet. For the season, school records were broken five times, all by Vrieze in the three backstroke distances. Hopkins guided Vrieze to become the first Spartan swimmer in recent history to record points at a USA Swimming national championship event in New York in the spring. San Jose State also sent a diver to the NCAA Diving Zone E Meet in Oklahoma City, Okla. Twelve Spartans garnered Academic All-WAC distinction, while Vrieze was honored with an Associated Students 55 Award.
In 2005-06, Hopkins' squad posted a winning record of 6-5-1 during the dual meet season. In addition to a fourth-place finish at the WAC Championship, San Jose State placed fourth at the annual Speedo Cup to mark its best showing there. Hopkins produced a Spartan qualifier for the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2000 in Marhenke. The sprint freestyle specialist was the first Spartan individual WAC champion in a swimming event with a pair of gold medals in the 50 and 100 freestyle, while also anchoring the first-place 200 freestyle relay, the first winning San Jose State relay at a conference championship. The team totaled 15 medals, seven first-team and 22 second-team All-WAC performances, 10 school-record swims, one NCAA `A' cut, three `B' cuts and an all-time high of 14 Academic All-WAC honorees. All 23 student-athletes achieved lifetime-best times.
Hopkins came to San Jose State from the De Anza Cupertino Aquatics (DACA) club program, where he had served as the associate director and associate head coach since 2000. His duties included managing day-to-day operations of the corporation, as well as directing the DACA Saratoga High School programs. He was involved in daily coaching of national-level swimmers of high school and college ages. Hopkins has also served as an assistant coach at De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif.
Previously, Hopkins was the head coach and chief operating officer of the Bakersfield Swim Club between 1997-2000. He was an assistant coach of the men's swim team at his alma mater, Cal State Bakersfield, from 1995-97. In the 1995-96 season, Hopkins helped guide the Roadrunners to NCAA Division II national runners-up distinction. He was selected by USA Swimming in 1999 to be a staff coach of the girl's National Select Camp. Hopkins has coached swimmers to dozens of world rankings over the years, as well as coaching four athletes onto the USA Swimming national team, including Gabe Woodward in 1999 and 2000 while with the Bakersfield Swim Club. Woodward went on to medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Hopkins holds American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Level 5 certification, the highest attainable. He has earned ASCA Fellow status (2000), been named Central California Swimming Coach of the Year (1999), served as meet director of the 1999 Speedo Junior National Championships, and was a speaker at the ASCA World Clinic in both 2000 and 2002. In January 2008, Hopkins was presented with the 2007 Marie Samora Award by USA Swimming's Zone 1-North, in appreciation of his outstanding service to the athletes, coaches and volunteers of United States Swimming. He is a past Chair of Zone 1-North and served on the board in various capacities for several years. He remains a member of Pacific Swimming's Senior Committee.
A 1997 cum laude graduate of Cal State Bakersfield with a bachelor's degree in English, Hopkins was a captain of the swim team and a seven-time All-American. As a club swimmer, Hopkins trained under U.S. Olympic team coach Mike Hastings. He and his wife, Tammy, reside in San Jose, Calif., with their son, Gunner.
SEASON-BY-SEASON AT SAN JOSE STATE
| Season | Dual Meet Record | Conference Finish | Notables |
| 2006 | 6-5-1 | 4th - WAC | |
| 2007 | 2-8 | 4th - WAC | |
| 2008 | 8-4 | 4th - WAC | |
| 2009 | 16-1 | 4th - WAC | |
| 2010 | 12-3 | 4th - WAC | |
| 2011 | 8-1 | 4th - WAC | |
| 2012 | 8-2 | WAC Champions | WAC Coach of the Year |
| 2013 | 9-1 | WAC Champions | WAC Coach of the Year |
| 2014 | 7-2 | 8th - Mountain West | |
| 2015 | 10-1 | 7th - Mountain West | |
| 2016 | 7-3 | 6th - Mountain West | |
| 2017 | 4-3 | 9th - Mountain West | |
| 2018 | 5-4 | 10th - Mountain West | |
| 2019 | 4-5 | 8th - Mountain West | |
| 2020 | 5-2-1 | 9th - Mountain West | |
| Career (15 seasons) |
111-45-2 |
| Conference Champions | ||
| 50 Free | Brie Marhenke | 2006, 2008 |
| Marisa DeWames | 2012, 2013 | |
| 100 Free | Brie Marhenke | 2006, 2008 |
| Marisa DeWames | 2012 | |
| 100 Back | Heather Denman | 2009 |
| 200 Back | Heather Denman | 2009 |
| Morgan McCormick | 2015 | |
| 100 Breast | Kirsten Trammell | 2012 |
| 200 Breast | Kirsten Trammell | 2012 |
| 200 Individual Medley | Kirsten Trammell | 2010 |
| 200 Freestyle Relay | 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 | |
| 400 Freestyle Relay | 2008, 2012 | |
| 800 Freestyle Relay | 2013 | |
| 200 Medley Relay | 2012, 2013 | |
| 400 Medley Relay | 2012 |