Sept. 2, 2011

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina head swimming and diving coach McGee Moody announced the addition of Julie Harrington to his coaching staff on Friday.

Harrington joins the Gamecocks staff as an assistant coach after spending the last two seasons as an assistant at Texas Christian University.

“I am extremely excited and thankful to be a part of the program and its future. It is only going to go up,” Harrington said. “The future is looking bright.”

While at TCU, Harrington helped lead the men’s team to an in-season dual meet championship in 2010 with a 7-0 record. Harrington also saw 34 school records fall during her stint as well as two individuals win Mountain West Conference championships and 48 earn All-MWC honors.

“We are excited about Julie joining the staff,” Moody said. “She opens up a lot of opportunities in regards to how we can approach our training. She also brings a lot of opportunities with starting up camps and things like that here. I think she is going to be a very valued member of our staff and will allow us continue to move forward with the program.”

Prior to TCU, Harrington was an assistant coach at Towson University in Towson, Md., from 2006-09. She helped guide the Tigers to women’s CAA Championships in 2008 and 2009. Towson broke the school record for wins in each of those seasons. The Tigers also set 43 school records, eight CAA Championship records and had 14 student-athletes earn All-CAA accolades during her tenure.

Harrington also served as an assistant coach at the United States Merchant Marine Academy from 2003-06 as she helped lead the Mariners to three consecutive Skyline Conference titles. The Mariners broke 31 school records during her stint and sent 11 individuals to the NCAA Division III Championships, with three of those being All-Americans. Along with her coaching duties, Harrington served as assistant aquatics director and a professional instructor for U.S. Coast Guard mandated courses.

Harrington, who is a 2000 graduate of Ithaca College, was a standout swimmer at the collegiate level. She qualified for three NCAA Championships, set the school record in the 200-fly as a freshman and won the NSYWCAA title in the 400-individual medley as a sophomore.

Harrington recently received her master’s degree in educational administration from TCU.