Courtesy: ODU Sports
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion University Swimming Head Coach Jess Livsey has hired Elisabeth Ray as an assistant coach, Livsey announced on Thursday. Livsey also announced the addition of a pair of volunteer assistant coaches in Hanna Gillcrist and Megan Reutzel.
“We are excited to have Elisabeth joining our staff as an assistant coach. She has worked with our team previously for several years in a volunteer capacity and is very familiar with our program culture, expectations and goals,” Livsey said. “Her knowledge, enthusiasm, and tremendous work ethic both on and off the pool deck will make an immediate impact and as a graduate of Old Dominion University, Elisabeth is a loyal member of our Monarch family.”
Ray joins ODU after spending the previous four years as a swim coach of the Old Dominion Aquatic Club. In her role she coached a variety of age groups technical training, strength and conditioning workouts and in-meet coaching. She was selected as a coach for the Virginia Swimming Eastern Zones Team twice and served as a member of the coaching staff at the Naval Academy’s swim camps
A graduate of Old Dominion, Ray was also the team manager the previous four seasons at ODU.
Gillcrist swam at the Naval Academy for four years and primarily swam the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 100 and 200 butterfly. She won the Patriot League Championship in the 100 breaststroke in 2014.
A 2017 graduate of Navy with a degree in oceanography, she joined flight school and earned her Naval Aviator wings.
Reutzel swam at Navy from 2012-16 and competed primarily in distance freestyle, 500, 1000, 1650, but also performed in the 100 and 200 free and the backstroke and IM.
Upon graduation she was a communication officer in Pearl Harbor.
