Poppell Hires First Assistant Coach, Robert Pinter
He brings 23 years of coaching experience at the college and club levels to Columbia
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Head swimming and diving Coach Jeff Poppell announced the hiring of assistant coach Robert Pinter to his new staff at South Carolina on Tuesday evening. Pinter will be working primarily as the lead sprint coach for the Gamecocks.
“I am extremely excited to have Robert join our staff at South Carolina,” said Poppell. “He has developed some of the country’s top club talent in addition to having the opportunity to work with World Swimmer of the Year Caeleb Dressel and 12-time Olympic Medalist Ryan Lochte while coaching alongside former Florida Head Coach and 2012 US Olympic Coach Gregg Troy. It’s not difficult to see the positive impact that he will have on our program in the years to come.”
Pinter brings 23 years of coaching experience at both the college and club level to his new role at South Carolina. His previous college coaching stints include assistant coach positions at the University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Georgia Tech.
Most recently, since 2016 Pinter has served as the head coach of Gator Swim Club. The club, based in Gainesville, Fla., has been a USA Swimming Gold Medal Club, which has developed many of the nation’s top club swimmers including 2017 US National Champion and USA Swimming National Team member Isabel Ivey, as well as USA Swimming National Junior Team members Caitlin Brooks and Julian Hill.
He also worked alongside former University of Florida Head Swimming Coach and 2012 Head US Olympic Coach Gregg Troy in coaching Gator Swim Club Elite, a group of professional and postgraduate swimmers that include World Swimmer of the Year Caeleb Dressel, who won seven gold medals at the 2019 World Championships and holds world records in the 100 meter butterfly in long course meters and the 50 freestyle, 100 fly and 100 IM in short course meters. Other swimmers in this group include 200 IM World Record Holder and 12-time Olympic Medalist Ryan Lochte, 2021 South American Champion in the 50 Freestyle Enzo Martinez-Scarpe, and former Gamecock All-Americans Tom Peribonio and Nils Wich-Glasen.
Prior to his arrival in Gainesville, Pinter was the head coach of the Iowa Flyers where he coached Ruby Martin to a fourth place finish at the 2016 US Olympic Trials in the 200 meter butterfly. He also developed USA Swimming National Junior Team Member Mark McGlaughlin.
Pinter earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he was a four-year member of the varsity men’s swim team for the Badgers. He placed seventh in the 200 meter butterfly at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and was a European Junior Champion while representing his home country of Romania.
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