SAN FRANCISCO – Gina Kehr has been named the inaugural head coach of the University of San Francisco women's triathlon team, as announced by Director of Athletics Scott Sidwell on Thursday. Kehr brings over 20 years of elite experience as both a professional athlete and as a coach.
 
"For us to be adding women's triathlon is such a great opportunity for our department and our university," said Deputy Athletics Director/SWA, Joan McDermott. "It is not often you get to watch the formation of an emerging sport at the Division I level. We hope to be one of the leaders of this sport. We are absolutely thrilled to have Gina as our coach, she comes with a wealth of experience both as a professional triathlete and as a coach.  It is going to be fun to watch the program grow under Gina's leadership and expertise."
 
Women's Triathlon, the 17^th sport at USF, will begin in the fall of 2019-20.  USF will be one of five Division I institutions to off triathlon, joining Arizona State, East Tennessee State, South Dakota and Wagner.
 
Kehr comes to the Hilltop after spending the previous 10 years leading and developing the Stanford club triathlon program.  At the same time, she also founded her own coaching business, Affinity Multisport, which provides personal coaching for professional and aspiring triathletes.   
 
She began her professional triathlon career in 1998 and raced professionally from 1998 to 2009, her experience ranges from International Triathlon Union racing where she finished eighth overall at the 2000 Olympic Trials to having one of the most top-10 overall finishes by a female at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
 
In college she was a collegiate swimmer at both SF State and Cal Poly SLO where she was a four-time Division II All-American.  She was inducted into the SF State Hall of Fame in 2001.  She is an IRONMAN certified coach as owning coaching certifications for USA Triathlon Level I and USA Triathlon Youth & Junior levels. This summer she spent 10 days at the Olympic Training Center in an elite mentorship coaching program earning the CRPEMC title.