LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky swimming & diving Head Coach Bret Lundgaard announced the addition of Erick Fornaris as an assistant dive coach for the Kentucky Swimming and Diving program, bringing highlights of major international coaching success and experience to Lexington.
“We are excited to welcome Erick to the swimming and diving staff,” Lundgaard said. “He brings a high-level expertise that he carries from not only his coaching experiences, but from also competing at some of the most competitive levels that the sport offers.”
As a coach, Fornaris has served as Head Coach of the Ecuador National Diving Team, assistant coach at YCF Diving in the United States, and director of Fornaris Diving Club in the United States. His experience includes daily training design, technical development across all events, athlete safety, and program management.
Fornaris is an elite-level diving coach with extensive international experience as both an athlete and coach. He brings a high-performance background across all diving events, including 1-meter and 3-meter springboard, 10-meter platform, and synchronized diving (3-meter and 10-meter), along with a strong foundation in athlete development and competition preparation.
As an athlete, he represented his country at three Olympic Games, achieving a best finish of fourth place. He was also a World Championships finalist (best finish: fourth), World Cup silver medalist, Diving World Series medalist, Grand Prix medalist and Super Final medalist, multiple Pan American Games silver medalist, World University Games medalist, Central American and Caribbean Games champion, and a multi-time national champion across all diving events.
Fornaris holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Culture and Sport and has over a decade of experience in high-performance environments. He is bilingual in English and Spanish and brings strong international recruiting connections, particularly across Latin America and Spanish-speaking countries. His global network and experience at the highest levels of sport support his ability to identify and develop talent while contributing to a positive and competitive team culture.
“His passion and gratitude for being a Wildcat brings an infectious influence on our program,” Lundgaard said. “He is committed to helping our student athletes grow as we develop a world class diving program.”
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