Klinge's background includes time spent serving his country with the United States Marine Corps in addition to coaching stops at the collegiate, club and high school coaching levels. He has a vision for success, which is, "To establish and ensure an environment where motivated and talented student-athletes strive for excellence in swimming and diving and in the classroom, and work together to consistently challenge for Big Ten and NCAA championships."
Klinge, a native of Richmond, Ind., graduated from Purdue in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. He returned to his home state after spending five years as an assistant to men's head coach Bill Wadley at Ohio State. Wadley promoted Klinge to associate head coach in May of 2008, shortly after the Buckeyes posted their second straight top-20 showing at the NCAA Championships. The Scarlet and Gray were 12th in 2007 and 16th in 2008.
Klinge's last Buckeye squad finished 13th in the national dual-meet rankings and broke a total of 10 school records before sending 11 student-athletes to the NCAA Championships.
While at Purdue, Klinge qualified for the 1992 United States Olympic Trials and went on to place 15th in the 200 backstroke. The former team captain also earned U.S. Swimming All-America honors in 1991 for placing fifth in the 200 backstroke and was awarded All-Big Ten honors in 1990 and 1994.
Klinge left Purdue as its second-fastest swimmer in the 100 and 200 backstroke events and 200 and 400 IM. He also held the Lambert Pool record in the 200 backstroke (1:49.68) and 200 IM (1:51.47) when he concluded his collegiate career. More than 14 years later, Klinge's lifetime-best 1:46.36 in the 200 backstroke still holds up among the five-fastest times in Boilermaker history even though Purdue moved into a much faster and improved facility at the start of this decade.
Klinge made an immediate transition into coaching following his senior year, serving as an undergraduate assistant coach to Purdue men's head coach Dan Ross for the 1994-95 season.
Klinge joined the Buckeyes after serving as the head coach at both Bozeman High School and Bozeman Barracuda Swim Club in Bozeman, Mont. During his tenure at Bozeman, Klinge led the Hawks to five state championships and coached multiple National Age Group Top 16, Junior National, United States Open and high school All-American swimmers.
Klinge is a commissioned officer for the United States Marine Corps. He has received two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals for various outstanding performances.
Klinge is married to the former Chris Anderson, who also swam for Purdue University. They have two sons, Jack, 7, and Matthew, 4, and one daughter, Madison, born July 25, 2010.
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