The FGCU women’s swimming & diving program has added two to its coaching staff for next season. Melissa Steele and Jack Eichenlaub are set to serve as assistant coaches under Dave Rollins, who just wrapped up his first season as head coach of the program since the departure of Neal Studd to Florida State.
Steele spent two seasons as a graduate assistant and one year as an assistant coach under Neil Harper at the University of Arkansas. During her time there, eight school records were broken, and she saw fifteen swimmers qualify for NCAA Championships.
“We received an incredible amount of interest in our assistant coach position, and we are very excited to have Melissa joining our Eagle family. Her experience is exactly what we were looking for, and we cannot wait to have Melissa help the program reach new heights.” — Dave Rollins
Before Arkansas, Steele held a position as an assistant age group coach with the Bolles School Sharks and served as a camp counselor for the University of Texas Swim Camps, working with high profile swimmers and coaches. She’s a 2012 graduate from the University of Louisville, where she was a four-year letter winner as well as a member of the Big East All-Academic team all four years.
Eichenlaub, meanwhile, just wrapped up a one-season bit with the University of Miami RedHawks. There, he focused on coaching the distance group, while simultaneously helping fill out the 2017 recruiting class. At the 2017 MAC Championships, the Miami men and women swam their way to fourth-place finishes.
Before Miami, he worked with mid-distance and distance swimmers at Division II powerhouse Nova Southeastern. The men finished fourth at the 2016 D2 NCAA Champs and the women fourth in 2015 under Eichenlaub. Prior to Nova Southeastern, he volunteer coached at Bloomsburg University, his alma mater.
“Having someone of Jack’s experience and knowledge is more than we could ask for in our volunteer position. His passion for our sport will help our program continue to grow and reach new levels of success.” — Dave Rollins
The FGCU Eagles have won three-straight CCSA championships, and eight of the last nine. They were represented for the sixth-straight season at the 2017 NCAA Championships this past season, where they finished 41st overall and scored their 200 free relay in the B final.
Congratulations, Melissa! This is great news.
Good pick up with getting Melissa. Good for jack getting out of the situation at Miami (OH), that place seems like a dumpster fire waiting to explode.
Yay Jack!!!