Two-time Short Course World Champion and 2016 U.S. Olympian Molly (Hannis) Dunphy has been announced as a new assistant swim coach at the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), an NAIA powerhouse program.
“I’m so excited to have been given the opportunity to work with SCAD swimming this season! I love the direction and vision the administration and staff have for this team, and I’m very much looking forward to working with this talented group of artist-athletes and seeing what we can achieve.” Hannis said.
Hannis quietly retired from pro swimming in 2021 at the conclusion of the International Swimming League season, where her team finished 2nd in what wound up being the final year of that run of the upstart league.
In fall of that year, she moved to Savannah, Georgia, where her husband Matthew Dunphy, an Army Ranger, was stationed. Dunphy won the 2024 “Army’s Best Ranger” competition earlier this year.
Hannis, a native of California, swam collegiately at the University of Tennessee from 2011-2015, which is also where she did most of her pro training. She was a 14-time All-American for the Volunteers and a two-time NCAA Champion.
In 2016, shortly after graduating, she finished 2nd at the US Olympic Trials in the 200 meter breaststroke to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games. She finished 16th in the semi-finals and didn’t advance to the final.
Later that year, she made the US team for the Short Course World Championships, winning gold medals on both the American 200 and 400 medley relays, as well as winning bronze medals in the 50 and 100 breaststrokes individually. She qualified to race again at the 2018 Short Course World Championships but withdrew after her father died unexpectedly.
She represented the US at a number of other more-minor international meets, including the 2015 World University Games, 2019 Pan American Games, and several FINA World Cup meets. She also swam at the infamous 2020 high-money FINA Champions Series meets in China that were held as the COVID-19 pandemic was forming.
At what would wind up being the final long course meet of her career, Hannis finished 7th in the 100 breaststroke at the 2021 US Olympic Trials before finishing her career in short course at the ISL.
Earlier this month, SCAD hired Rob Zamorano as its new head swimming & diving coach when Dave Gendernalik left after just one season in charge of the program.
“I’m incredibly excited to welcome Molly to the staff, her experiences will be invaluable to the goals of the program,” states Head Coach Rob Zamorano. “Her eagerness to learn and excitement for the sport make her someone I trust greatly with the goals of the team, department, and school.”
While this is Hannis’ first full-time coaching job, she has a lot of on-deck experience as a volunteer assistant at Tennessee and as a very-active clinician with Fitter & Faster Swim Tours, where Hannis has focused much of her time since stepping out of racing.
SCAD has been one of the biggest powerhouse programs at the NAIA level over the last decade. The women captured the NAIA titles each year from 2018-2020 and finished 7th this past season. The men were 2nd at the NAIA Championships from 2016-2022 but fell to 5th this past spring.
It’s a great day to be a Bee!