Campus Aerial

Blake Hanna

Assistant Coach
PositionAssistant Coach
Blake Hanna

UC Coaching Highlights

  • AAC Men's Conference Runner-up - 2023
  • 255 UC Top-10 Times
  • 43 UC School Records
  • 7 American Athletic Conference Champions
  • 7 NCAA Qualifiers
  • 2 Big 12 Conference Champions
  • 2 US Olympic Team Trial Semi-finalist
  • 1 AAC Swimmer of the Year
  • 1 All-American and 1 Honorable Mention All-American

Hanna is entering his fourth year on the Bearcats staff after starting in the Fall of 2022. He was previously a Volunteer Assistant at Cincinnati.

In 2025, Hanna helped lead the Bearcats through a historic season. The women opened the Big 12 Conference Championship with a program-record and NCAA “A” Standard time in the 200 Medley Relay, marking the Bearcats’ first relay qualification for the NCAA Championships since 1976. Both the men’s and women’s teams went on to win their first Big 12 Conference titles in program history. Individually, Crye captured the 100 Breast title on the women’s side, while Hunter Gubeno claimed victory in the men’s 200 Backstroke. At the NCAA Championships, Joleigh Crye earned All-American honors with a 4th-place finish in the 100 Breaststroke. Crye went on to earn the 2025 UC Student-Athlete of the Year award. The women's program also set a record-setting 3.734 cumulative team GPA over the spring semester.  Overall, the teams posted 19 First/Second Team All-Big 12 performances, 17 new school records and earned eight top-three finishes at the Big 12 Championships. 

In 2024, Hanna helped the Bearcats in the inaugural season of the Big 12 with fourth-place finishes on both sides. Post conference, both programs had NCAA qualifiers for the first time since 2017. Hanna played a role in the development of senior swimmer Hunter Gubeno, who qualified on the men’s side. The team's success carried over to the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials, where both Gubeno and Crye had standout performances, qualifying for the semi-finals.

In 2023, he helped Joleigh Crye qualify for NCAA in the 100 breast, making her the first Freshman NCAA qualifier since 2014. Hunter Gubeno led the men’s team by earning AAC Men’s Swimmer of the Year. All together, the Bearcats had seven conference champions and broke 12 school records.

During his time as an athlete, Hanna was a standout four-year swimmer at Cincinnati. Throughout his career, he played a crucial role in countless UC record-breaking individual performances, relays, relay titles, and a 2019 American Athletic Conference team title. A four-time AAC individual conference champion, he holds multiple team records.

Hanna was also a qualifier for the 2021 NCAA Championships in the 100 and 200 backstroke. He finished that season ranked 16th in the nation in the 200-yard backstroke. His other accomplishments include qualifying for the 2021 Olympic Trials Wave II meet and placing second in the 200 back at the Wave I finals.

Hanna graduated from UC in the Spring of 2021 with a Bachelors in Information Technology (Cyber-Security).