Oct. 5, 2012
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina head swimming and diving coach McGee Moody completed his coaching staff on Friday with the hiring of Kevin Swander as an assistant coach.
Swander, who was a 13-time All-American at Indiana, brings an extensive swimming background with him to the Gamecock coaching staff.
“The addition of Kevin to our staff brings an element that we’ve needed for a long time,” Moody said. “His knowledge of breaststroke and IM training is going to greatly enhance the program that we can provide in those areas. He brings a big swimming name to South Carolina and will allow us to continue to draw some of the best breaststrokers in the world to our program.”
A native of Greenwood, Ind., Swander got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Indiana from 2008-09. During the stint with his alma mater, Swander did video analysis work and provided detailed analysis and technique suggestions to the coaching staff. He also assisted with on-campus recruiting, managed equipment and helped maintain recruit files.
Swander is looking forward to the opportunity coach alongside Moody in the SEC.
“I am honored and very excited for the opportunity to be a part of the South Carolina family,” Swander said. “I look forward to working with one of the best coaching staffs in the country in the premiere athletic conference in the country.”
Following his graduate assistantship at Indiana, Swander spent the 2009-10 season as an assistant coach at Bloomington High School South, where he was in charge of weights and strength training and the breaststroke group.
As a swimmer, Swander has compiled a long list of accolades. A two-time Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships, Swander helped lead Indiana to its first Big Ten title in 21 years in 2006 as he won the 100-yard breaststroke, finished third in the 200-yard breaststroke and fourth in the 200-yard IM. He went on to finish second in the 100 breaststroke at the 2006 NCAA Championships. Along with earning 13 All-America honors during his Hoosier career, he was also a five-time individual Big Ten champion.
Swander was a five-time U.S. National Team member and a three-time Olympic Trials finalist. At the 2004 ConocoPhillips National Championships, Swander captured the 100-meter breaststroke national title. He won silver medals at the 2005 World University Games in the 100 breaststroke, 50-meter breaststroke and 100-meter medley relay. At the 2009 World University Games, he claimed gold in both the 50 breaststroke and 100 medley relay.
Swander won silver at the 2011 Pan American Games in the 100 medley relay. At the 2011 U.S. National Championships, he captured silver in the 100 breaststroke and gold in the 100 medley relay.
Swander arrives in Columbia just in time for the start of the 2012-13 season, as the Gamecocks open their schedule at home on Saturday, Oct. 13 against North Carolina and Texas A&M.
