DENVER – University of Denver men's and women's swimming and diving head coach Alicia Hicken-Franklin has signed a multi-year contract extension to continue to lead both programs, Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Ritchie Center Operations Josh Berlo announced on Tuesday.
"Throughout the last five seasons, Alicia has continued to elevate our swimming and diving programs," Berlo said. "She has built a strong foundation and developed a culture that, in conjunction with her impressive staff, has an exceptionally bright future for our Pioneer men's and women's swim and dive programs. In our two years together, Alicia has regularly demonstrated her fierce commitment to the student-athletes and to elevating their legacy of conference championships and national level achievement."
Hicken-Franklin's five seasons in charge have seen the two programs combine to win nine Summit League Championships, earn 15 major awards at those championships and have their student-athletes combine for 152 all-league awards. Hicken-Franklin has been recognized for her success in the league by her peers, earning seven Summit League Coach of the Year honors, including sweeping the men's and women's awards at both the 2020 and 2022 championships.
"I am extremely grateful and excited to continue my head coaching career at Denver," Hicken-Franklin said. "The coaching staff and student-athletes I have the honor of working with each day challenge me to be my best. They are an energetic and hard-working group who give their best to the program each day. Thank you to Josh Berlo, who has been a relentless supporter of our team, Brandon Macneill, who supports me each day, the staff at DU, who support our student-athletes, and our parents and alumni who continue to give back and be involved. I look forward to what our program can achieve in the years ahead."
In her first season in 2019-20, Denver took all but one swimming event combined across both genders at the 2020 Summit League Championships. In that season, Hicken-Franklin coached the men's program to three individuals and a program-best four relays qualifying for nationals before the National Championships were cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. DU earned a Hicken-Franklin tenure-best 35 All-Summit League honors after the teams' performance at the championships. Following the cancelled championships, the CSCAA honored Cameron Auchinachie, Sid Farber, Cy Jager and Adriel Sanes as All-Americans for their times during the pre-championship season.
A year ago, the Denver women made it 10-straight titles at the Summit League Championships and the Pioneers earned a clean sweep of the women's major awards. Hicken-Franklin helped coach Natalie Arky to her second-consecutive NCAA Championship appearance after the senior earned both Summit League Women's Swimmer of the Championship and Summit League Women's Swimmer of the Year honors. In addition to the national appearance, Hicken-Franklin guided the Pioneers to a men's 10th-place finish at the CSCAA National Invitational Championships while taking the Denver women to a 13th-place finish.
In 2023-24, Denver's men and women swept the titles for the third-straight year and the 10th time in 11 seasons. Denver had 28 student-athletes earn all-league honors, Jessica Maeda was named the Women's Swimmer of the Championship and Sabrina Rachjaibun was named the Newcomer of the Championship.
Prior to her time as the head coach at Denver, Hicken-Franklin spent two seasons as the associate head coach at her alma mater, Minnesota.
Hicken-Franklin's stint with the Gophers came after a 16-year tenure on the Denver staff that included the final 11 as the program's associate head coach. During her first stint with the Pioneers, Hicken-Franklin was named the CollegeSwimming.com Assistant Coach of the Year in 2016 and helped guide the Pioneers to their first three Summit League Championships. Hicken-Franklin spent her time as an assistant focused on the Denver distance swimmers, coaching a pair of All-Americans that set Summit League records in the 500 and 1650 free.
The Minnesota grad came to Denver the first time after three seasons as an assistant at Washington State where she guided the Cougars to 25 school records and their first top-30 finish at nationals in program history.
In her swimming career at Minnesota, the 1997 graduate was a six-time Big Ten Conference finalist in the 200, 500 and 1650 free. In the classroom, Hicken-Franklin was a two-time Academic Honorable Mention All-America selection, earning the honor in her junior and senior years. Outside of the collegiate waters, Hicken-Franklin was a finalist at the 1992 Canadian Olympic Trails. In her academic career, Hicken-Franklin graduated with a BS in kinesiology (Minnesota) and an MS in physiology of exercise (Washington State).
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