West Virginia
New West Virginia Assistant Sydney Pickrem Has a Base $50,000 Per Year Salary
New West Virginia assistant swim coach Sydney Pickrem will receive a base salary of $50,000 per year in her new role. That is significantly higher than the entry-level salaries we’ve seen for elite athletes with limited coaching experience in prior years, likely driven at least in part by changes in federal law.
Pickrem’s contract includes a relocation stipend of $5,000, tickets to home sporting events, annual dues to relevant professional organizations, the potential to share in camp money, and annual performance incentives.
The term of the original contract is one season, which is common for assistant coaching contracts.
Bonus Potentials
- NCAA National Team Championship $ 2,500.00
- NCAA National Championship Top 10 Team Finish $ 1,000.00
- NCAA National Championship Top 20 Team Finish $ 500.00
- Conference Postseason Team Championship $ 1,000.00
West Virginia has finished in the top 20 at the NCAA Division I Championships once in program history, when the men tied for 20th in 2007. Sergio Lopez, current head coach at Virginia Tech, led the program at that time.
The Mountaineers have never won a Big 12 team title in swimming & diving, though the departure of the Texas Longhorns and the arrival of teams from Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State will reshape the conference going forward.
Pickrem’s Background
Pickrem was announced as a new assistant coach under the program’s new head coach Brent MacDonald in July, before competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. At the time, she told SwimSwam that she is still planning to continue training while coaching.
Pickrem, 27, also has seven World Aquatics Championship medals. Earlier this year, she won silver in the 200 IM; in 2019 she won bronze in the 200 IM; and in 2017 she won bronze in the 400 IM. Her other four World Championship medals were in relays.
She also has five World Championship medals in short course, including two gold medals.
Pickrem previously completed at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games, which included a bronze medal as the breaststroker on Canada’s women’s medley relay. She also placed 6th in the 200 IM in Tokyo and Rio individually.
In Paris, Pickrem placed 9th individually in the 200 breaststroke and 6th individually in the 200 IM.
New Overtime Exempt Rules
Beginning on July 1, 2024, the threshold for employees in most states to be exempt from overtime pay increased to $43,888. On January 1, 2025, that threshold will again increase to $58,656. Most college assistants at the NCAA D1 level are paid above that level because of the assumption that they will work more than 8 hours on some days and more than 40 hours weekly.
Pickrem is part of a wave of elite athletes jumping right into assistant coaching positions at Power 4 programs in recent years. Last season, Olympic medalist Annie Lazor was hired at the University of Florida with a starting salary of $45,000.