Melanie Margalis Fink, an Olympic gold medalist, NCAA champion and 17-time all-American, has returned to Georgia Tech’s swimming and diving program as assistant coach, Georgia Tech head coach John Ames announced on Thursday.
Georgia Tech has seen a lot of turnover in their staff this offseason, with only Ames (who coaches the divers) and Iago Moussalem currently listed as paid assistant coaches.
“We are thrilled to welcome Melanie Fink back to the Georgia Tech swimming and diving family,” Ames said. “As an accomplished Olympian and seasoned competitor at the highest levels of our sport, Melanie brings a wealth of experience, insight and passion to our program. Her return to The Flats is a tremendous opportunity for our student-athletes to learn from one of the best.”
Temarie Tomley is looking for a new job, while Arilson Soares da Silva, who led the swimming program through Ames’ interim year last season, has taken a job at Auburn.
Margalis Fink, 33, won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA as a prelims swimmer on the American 800 free relay.
She also has three Long Course World Championship medals, all on relays, and seven Short Course World Championship medals. The latter includes individual silvers in the 200 IM and 400 IM in 2018 and individual bronzes in each as well from other years.
Her last major meet was the 2022 US International Team Trials, where she placed 14th in the 200 IM.
Margalis Fink has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the women’s program at another ACC school: SMU. The ACC, more than most conferences, has a strong cross-school hiring history in swimming & diving.
Margalis swam collegiately at the University of Georgia nearby.
She is married to fellow Olympian Nic Fink, and the two had their first child in 2024. Nic, 31, won a silver medal in the 100 breaststroke at the Paris Olympics, along with gold in the mixed medley relay and silver in the men’s medley relay.
Nic has not raced since the Olympic Games and has not made any formal announcement about his future in the sport. Away from the pool, he works as an engineer at Quanta Utility Engineering Services that is based in Atlanta, near Georgia Tech.
The Georgia Tech women finished 13th and the men finished 9th at last year’s ACC Championship meet. The program is in a state of flux with unconfirmed rumors of a dramatic roster reduction in excess of what is required by the still-unfinalized House settlement.
Margalis Fink’s Bio, Courtesy Georgia Tech
Margalis Fink, who originally served as an assistant coach at Tech during the 2022-23 season, returns to The Flats after spending the last two seasons in the same role at SMU. During her previous stint at Tech, she worked primarily with IM and lower-middle distance swimmers.
Margalis Fink arrived at Georgia Tech in 2022 following the conclusion of her own world-class career in the pool. Most notably, she won gold as a member of the United States’ 4×200 freestyle team at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and nearly claimed a second medal at the 2016 Games when she placed fourth in the 200 IM.
Her international career also included gold medals at the 2017 and 2019 long-course world championships, gold at the 2018 short-course world championships and a bronze medal at the 2021 short-course worlds. In all, she owns a total of eight medals from world-championship events.
Collegiately, Margalis Fink was a 17-time all-American at Georgia, where she helped lead UGA to national championships in 2013 and 2014. She was a key member of both teams, earning all-America honors in the 200 breast, 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay in 2013, while placing second in the 200 IM, third in the 400 IM and 400 medley relay and fourth in the 200 breast and 400 free relay in 2014.
“Coming back to Atlanta feels like coming home. I’m grateful to John for the opportunity to rejoin Georgia Tech swimming and diving,” Margalis Fink said. “Training and competing in a pool that once hosted the Olympic Games adds something special to every practice. I’m looking forward to contributing to the growth of our student-athletes, both in and out of the pool.”
Margalis Fink graduated from Georgia in 2014 with a B.S. in family and consumer sciences/fashion merchandising. She is married to Olympic silver medalist and world-record holder Nic Fink, who holds a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Tech. The couple has a son.
I heard SMU swimmers also had a bunch more quit plus 3 graduate bringing the roster from 14 to around 7 with 4 recruits coming in. Does anyone finally see there’s a problem there and it wasn’t the women that quit or were cut Ozzie’s first year?
Don’t believe everything you hear.
Those are the facts. One of the new top recruits is also in the portal. 3 graduated. 3 or 4 have quit and 4 are coming in.
Rosters and stats of those swimmers that were there last year don’t lie. There are 4 commits announced for next year and 3 were announced as graduates. Way below the roster cap. Do your research.
I can confirm that Georgia Tech has cut down to 22 women and even less men, has heavily favored international athletes, and cut several athletes on scholarship. This is all to divert funding to the football team. Even if alumni want to donate to the swim and dive team, our AD has made sure that they cannot donate directly to the team; all money is distributed at the athletic department’s discretion.
This makes perfect sense so that she and Nic are both in ATL
I thought Nic moved out to SMU to follow Melanie and train under Ozzy
Nic has pretty much retired now and If I am correct his job and all their family is from that area. Plus she just had a child
Nic never trained w Ozzie.