Akron assistant coach Bex Freebairn has been tabbed as the new associate head coach for the Missouri Swimming & Diving program, head coach Andrew Grevers announced on Monday morning. During Freebairn’s stint at Akron, she helped lead the Zips to Mid-American Conference titles in 2022 and 2023.
Welcome home, @BexFreebairn! 🐯
📰 » https://t.co/HsIg5x9jsh pic.twitter.com/d5JZkI0J6O
— Mizzou Swim & Dive (@MizzouSwimDive) August 14, 2023
Speaking on the hire, Grevers said in part “Bex is a true innovator in the pool, who excels at relationships and brings fresh ideas to the table!”
“I am very honored and excited to be joining the Mizzou swim and dive family in this role,” Freebairn said in her statement.
At the 2023 SEC Championships, Mizzou’s women’s team finished 11th out of 12 teams. The men’s team fared better, taking 6th out of 10 teams. At NCAAs, the Tiger men fared better once again, as they finished 16th in the team standings. Meanwhile, Mizzou’s women’s team did not score at the 2023 NCAAs.
It’s worth noting that the upcoming 2023-2024 season will be the last “normal” season for the SEC, as Texas, which features powerhouse men’s and women’s swimming & diving programs, will be joining the conference in the 2024-25 season.
Prior to her time at Akron, Freebairn served as the head coach of Swim Waipa in Cambridge, New Zealand. A native of New Zealand, Freebairn was an assistant coach for Washington State from 2018-2020. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in early summer of 2020, Freebairn was forced to return to New Zealand, as the Trump Administration had put a pause on issuing new worker visas to foreign workers, which caused Freebairn to be unable to get her visa renewed.
Freebairn began her NCAA coaching career as an assistant coach at Indiana State University, where she coached from 2016-2018. She was part of the inaugural season for the Sycamores in 2016.
Freebairn earned her Bachelor’s of Sport Coaching degree from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) in 2015. She also obtained a Masters of Coaching at Indiana State in 2018.
Solid hire, has had an impact on each team she’s been a part of. Sad loss for Akron, hopefully UM know how lucky they are
Great hire for Mizzou! We loved when Bex coached us at WSU, she will do great things.
Go Bex! She will be great…