Jan. 12, 2010

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina head swimming and diving coach McGee Moody earned the American Swimming Coaches Association Award of Excellence for 2009, the organization announced recently.

The ASCA annually recognizes those coaches who coach a swimmer to a top-eight finish at one of several USA national-level championships. The following meets were used for this year’s award: 2008 USA Short Course National Championships, 2009 NCAA Championships (all divisions), 2009 USA World Championship Trials and the 2009 USA Short Course National Championships.

Moody, who is in his third season at South Carolina, had two swimmers qualify under these criteria. Recent graduate Kyle Cormier was the first to earn a top-eight finish at one of these events, garnering a fifth-place showing in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2008 Short Course Nationals with a time of 1:35.63, setting a school record that he would again break later in the season.

At the 2009 NCAA Championships, then-senior Nick Walkotten earned his second of two All-America certificates in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing sixth with a time of 1:42.48 to break his own school record once again.