Josh Christensen was named the Fresno Pacific swimming & diving program’s second head coach on May 3, 2012. Under Christensen’s guidance, the men's and women's teams have become national contenders in the NCAA Division II.
In 2016-17, Christensen led the men and women to ninth- and 10th-place finishes at NCAA Division II Championships, the program's highest-ever result on both sides. Both programs were also the top finishers out of all West Region schools and were one of six programs in the nation to both achieve top-10. During the meet, the team produced 27 All-Americans and 11 school records while each FPU student-athlete scored points. The Sunbirds also collected their best-ever finishes at the PCSC Championships, with both teams taking second.
Following the year, Christensen was named the PCSC Men's and Women's Coach of the Year. Under his leadership, Laura Fornshell was tabbed the PCSC Women's Swimmer of the Year, while Duston Gragg earned Diver of the Year. Fornshell was also awarded the FPU Freshman of the Year award, Matlyn Morris earned Sunbird of the Year honors and the men's and women's teams received the Team of the Year award by the department.
Christensen took the Sunbirds to new heights in 2015-16. FPU qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history, as the Sunbirds sent seven student-athletes to the compete. All together, the Sunbirds broke four school records and produced nine Division II All-Americans at the four-day meet. All seven student-athletes from FPU scored points as well.
Outside of the pool, FPU received CSCAA Scholar All-America Teams on both the men's and women's sides. The Sunbirds also had seven individuals named Scholar All-Americans.
In 2014-15, the Sunbirds broke several records and earned many program firsts. The men placed third at the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference (PCSC), while the women finished fifth. Christensen earned Co-Coach of the Meet. On January 31, the Sunbirds took down California Baptist in a dual meet for only the second time in school history. The Sunbirds also excelled in the classroom under Christensen, as the men earned CSCAA All-Academic and ranked 25th in Division II with a 3.39 team GPA.
Christensen also had several members of his team earn individual honors under his leadership. Alex Hussain was named FPU’s Scholar of the Year and earned Capital One Academic All-American honors, while diver Duston Gragg was named the PCSC men’s Diver of the Meet. Wesley Coles qualified for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 butterfly (54.58), while Daria Belova won the 100 (1:14.16) and the 200 (2:40.43) breaststroke at the FINA Masters World Championships. Christensen also help bring media attention to record-setting swimmer Kendall Swanson, who ranked first in NCAA Division II in the 100 and 200 breaststroke during the regular season.
In 2013-14, Christensen was named the PCSC men’s Coach of the Meet after leading the men to a third place finish. The Sunbirds also ranked fifth in all of Division II with a 3.35 team GPA, while the women ranked 14th with a 3.40 team GPA as both teams earned CSCAA All-Academic under Christensen.
In his first year at the helm, Christensen had the Sunbirds ranked #8 in the nation and the women #12 in their first year at the NCAA Division II level in 2012-13. Christensen led FPU to a second-place finish at the PCSC Championships, while the women took home third. In the classroom under his leadership, the men held a 3.01 cumulative GPA to earn the CSCAA All-Academic Team honor.
In his three seasons as head coach, the men’s and women’s programs have broken into FPU’s top five records 55 times.
Prior to FPU, Christensen spent two seasons at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix as the head assistant and recruiting coordinator for one of the top swimming programs in NCAA Division II.
Under Christensen, the GCU men’s team, which had finished 16th the year before he arrived, put together two consecutive NCAA top-five finishes and was ranked #1 in the nation in January 2011. He took the women’s team from a 31st-place finish at NCAA nationals two years ago to a 5th-place finish this season.
Christensen, whose entire swimming and coaching career has been at the Division II level, has a coaching philosophy that is not only centered around highly-competitive swimming, but also stresses the importance of a family atmosphere and a genuine care for each student-athlete.
Originally from Mesa, Ariz., Christensen swam at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas as a student-athlete before joining the OBU coaching staff during his junior year of college.
He was an assistant coach from 2007-2010 and during that span the men’s team never finished lower than fifth and the women’s team never lower than 10th at the NCAA Division II national championships.
After returning to his hometown to take the position at GCU, Christensen established himself as a proven recruiter with a knack for finding talent and building recruiting connections throughout the West Coast. He put together top recruiting classes in each season as the recruiting coordinator at GCU, including his final class which landed the program the top high school swimmer in the state of New Mexico.
Swimmers under him have won eight individual NCAA titles, three relay titles and set three NCAA national records. In each of the last two seasons, GCU has also received the CSCAA Scholar All-American team award.
In the summer of 2011 he coached Team Canyon of USA Swimming Club at the USA Swimming National Championships hosted by Stanford with one of his athletes qualifying for the Olympic Trials in two different events.
He holds a bachelor's degree in history & political science from Ouachita Baptist, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude, and a Master's degree in Business Administration, with a leadership emphasis, from Grand Canyon.
While in college he married his wife Jenny, an NCAA All-American swimmer at OBU who was part of an NCAA-record setting relay team. The two reside in Fresno and have three sons named Levi, Finn and Axel.
