University of Missouri Athletics

Completing his fifth season in Columbia in 2023-24, Alec Hayden serves as an associate head coach of the program. 

In his fifth season with the Tigers, Hayden oversaw a men's team that finished 27th at NCAAs, and had five athletes garner All-America honors. More specifically, the 200 medley relay team featuring Grant Bochenski, Ty Spillane, Daniel Wilson and Frederik Rindshøj claimed second-team All-American status following their time of 1:23.29 at the national championship. Collier Dyer also earned second-team All-American status by finishing 10th in the 1M dive. Overall, Missouri sent 11 athletes to the NCAA Championship meets.

During his fourth year with the Tigers, Hayden led the men's team to a 17th place finish at the NCAA Championships. Graduate student Jack Dahlgren earned First Team All-America accolades in the 200 back and 200 free, while four other swimmers earned All-America honorable mention honors in various individual events. All of Mizzou's relays had top-20 finishes at the championships, including the 200 free which earned honorable mention All-America honors. Four program records were broken in the pool this season, including two at the NCAA's.

During his third season at Mizzou, Hayden led the Tiger men to a 25th place finish at the NCAA Championships, where three swimmers and all five relays qualified to compete. The men's team earned four All-America honors, including one first team accolade. Seniors Jack Dahlgren and Danny Kovac both broke school records during the 2021-22 campaign.

In his second season with the Tigers, Hayden led the men’s team to a 16^th place team finish at the NCAA Championships. Over the course of the championships, Mizzou tallied two school records, three top-seven finishes and 10 top-15 finishes. Four individuals and three relays claimed All-America honors.

Hayden helped lead the Mizzou men to a perfect 8-0 dual meet record during the 2019-20 regular season, and a ranking of seventh in the season's final regular season TYR / CSCAA Division I Poll. The men's program earned a fifth-place finish at the 2020 Southeastern Conference Championships in February, including an individual title from then-sophomore Danny Kovac in the 100 fly. Overall, five men's swimmers qualified for the eventually canceled NCAA Championships, and a total of seven men's swimmers garnered CSCAA All-America honors for the 2019-20 campaign. 

He came to Mizzou after a year with Alligator Aquatics in Arlington Heights, Ill.

"I'm very excited to have Alec Hayden join the University of Missouri swimming and diving staff," Grevers said. "I have had the privilege of swimming against, coaching against and eventually working with Alec over the last 20 years, and I can't wait to be reunited here in Columbia. He is an extremely intelligent coach who understands what it will take to be successful in the SEC and NCAA. I am honored to welcome Alec, his wife Laura, and son Nolan to the Mizzou swimming and diving family."

"I'm thrilled to join the Missouri swimming and diving coaching staff," Hayden said. "Through my conversations with Coach Grevers and the rest of Mizzou Athletics, I know this is a truly special and unique opportunity. I want to thank Coach Grevers for welcoming not only me, but also my wife and son, into the Mizzou family."

Hayden was elevated to head coach of Alligator Aquatics in March after nine months as the associate head coach, where he was responsible for all aspects of coaching and managing the 150-member program. Under his tutelage, Alligator Aquatics had the ISCA Showcase 13-year-old 100 and 200 breast champion, set 11 team records, and had multiple state and sectional finalists.

Prior to Alligator Aquatics, Hayden was an assistant coach and interim head coach at Northwestern for the 2017-18 season. He served as the Wildcats' primary sprint coach and coordinated the program's recruiting efforts.

Hayden also spent four seasons as an assistant at Illinois and one year as an assistant at The College of William and Mary.

Starting his coaching career as the assistant senior coach at Nasa Wildcat Aquatics in Evanston, Ill., Hayden was promoted to head senior coach in 2010 after two seasons. He also served as a volunteer assistant coach at Northwestern from for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns. 

A four-year letter winner and two-year captain at Northwestern, Hayden earned a B.A. in Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences and Economics in 2008.