Golden West Swim Club Picks McAllister

In a step toward national prominence, Huntington Beach-based Golden West Swim Club hired Bud McAllister on Thursday as head coach, replacing Dave Pickford.

McAllister, 36, developed U.S. national team members Kristine Quance and Alexis Larsen at Calabasas-based CLASS Aquatics the past four years.

From 1985-88, he coached at Fullerton Area Swim Team, preparing Janet Evans for the 1988 Olympics in which she won three gold medals. A former Mission Viejo Nadadores assistant, McAllister has also coached Team Orlando and the Coronado Swim Assn. in San Diego.

McAllister left CLASS because of escalating costs and the unreliability of pool time as well as the lack of commitment by swimmers. CLASS’s roster fluctuated between 75 and 220 swimmers.

“Golden West struck me as being a long-term stable position,” McAllister said.

More than 300 swimmers are in the Golden West program, including national level competitors Steven West, Jessica Tong, and Allison Mijares, and 17 junior national qualifiers.

Larsen, the 1,500-meter freestyle Pan Pacific Championship bronze medalist, is expected to follow McAllister to Golden West if she can handle the drive from her Pacific Palisades home to Huntington Beach.