Aug. 29, 2007
McGee Moody, former Director of Swimming & Diving at The College of William & Mary, has been named to a similar post at the University of South Carolina, Associate Athletics Director Val Sheley announced today.
“After an extensive search we feel that McGee will be a perfect fit for where our program is at now and where he will take us in the future,” said Sheley. “We’re glad to have him on board.”
Moody has spent the past three years at William & Mary where his teams achieved 559 life-time best swims, 301 all-time Tribe top-10 performances, 46 school records and 18 gold medals at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships. The Tribe swimming program also has excelled academically. The women received Academic All-America honors in each semester under Moody’s tutelage.
“This is a great opportunity for me and my family,” said Moody. “The swimming program at the University of South Carolina has a huge upside and a lot of potential. I’m ready to get started.”
In 2007, Moody earned the conference’s Coach of the Year honor after leading his women’s team to the first Colonial Athletic Association Championship in the program’s 80-year history with a record-tying 12 gold medals. In doing so, the squad swept the conference awards by winning Performer of the Meet, Swimmer of the Year and Rookie of the Year. The men’s program finished with a winning record (6-3-1, 5-2-1 CAA) for the first time since 1998-99, and finished fourth at the conference meet behind a pair of runner-up performances and a host of bronze medals.
In 2005-06, the Tribe women’s team improved upon its fourth-place conference finish in 2005 by taking second, passing George Mason on the final day of the CAA Championships. During the season, the women were even more impressive, posting a 10-4 ledger (8-1 CAA), to set the school record for conference wins in a season. In the conference, their only blemish was against eventual champion UNC Wilmington. The men also experienced improvement, achieving five dual meet wins for the first time since 1999 and posting a .500 mark (4-4) in the conference. They also improved on their result at the conference tournament, riding a bevy of personal records in the last two days to a fifth-place finish.
Moody came to the College after spending four seasons as an assistant men’s swimming coach at the United States Naval Academy. During his tenure at Navy, Moody coached the Midshipmen’s first NCAA automatic qualifier since 1996 in addition to guiding numerous NCAA, Senior National and Olympic Trial qualifiers. His 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams finished the season ranked in the top 25 of the world, and Moody also made an impact in the Navy record book, with his athletes setting all of the top-10 fastest times in school history in both the 50 and 100 freestyles. Building his athletes into academic success stories as well, Navy’s men’s swimming team was awarded Academic All-America honors all three seasons from 2001-2004 under Moody’s direction.
Moody got his coaching start at his alma mater, East Carolina University. He was the top assistant swim coach for both men and women for the Pirates from 1996-2000. While working in nearly every facet of the program at East Carolina, Moody coached over 25 varsity record holders.
A 1998 graduate of East Carolina, Moody swam on the Pirates’ varsity squad for four seasons, setting several freshman records and captaining the team his junior and senior years. Moody was also an Olympic Trials qualifier in the 200 freestyle in 1992.
Moody, who earned both a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s in sports administration from East Carolina, is an active professional in the swimming community. A member of both the American Swimming Coaches Association and the College Swimming Coaches Association of America, he has served as the chair of the latter’s Media Relations Committee since 2001. He and his wife Monica have three daughters: Sydney, 7, Olivia, 4, and Lily, 1.
