Mary Washington Hires Alum Justin Anderson as Head Coach

Courtesy: Mary Washington Athletics

Justin Anderson has been named as the head men’s and women’s swimming coach at the University of Mary Washington, according to interim Director of Athletics Patrick Catullo. Anderson, a 2010 UMW graduate, returns to his alma mater after five seasons as head coach at Frostburg State University.

“We look forward to having Justin return to his alma mater to be the next head coach of the men’s and women’s swim program and continue the team’s long tradition of excellence”, said Catullo. “Coach Anderson’s experience and proven coaching ability will be a great asset to the team and the department.”

Anderson guided a Frostburg State team from the bottom of the conference standings into a significant conference squad, as the Bobcats climbed the CAC standings as numerous swimmers gained personal best, conference-winning times, and advancement to the NCAA Championships.

While at Frostburg, he also coached a swimmer to the U.S. Paralympic trials with record-breaking results, and will coach for the U.S. Paralympic team in Australia late this summer.

“I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to return to my alma mater”, said Anderson. “Mary Washington and the swimming program have given me so much and I can’t wait to be able to come back home and give back to a place that means so much to me. I’m so fortunate to be standing on an incredibly solid foundation that has been built for over 40 years by some phenomenal women and men. I feel like I’m standing on all of their shoulders.”

Prior to his time at Frostburg, Anderson was an assistant coach at Trinity College. He headed the program’s recruiting efforts and implemented practice plans, helping recruit the first-ever male swimmer to achieve NCAA provisional qualifying times in multiple events and he guided the women’s team to their highest GPA in program history and the tenth highest GPA in the nation. He also assisted the aquatics director with planning and coordinating the facility schedule and lifeguard coverage. He coached the Bantams to over 200 personal best times, 29 varsity school records, 12 first-year records and six NCAA provisional qualifying performances.

Anderson served as an assistant at UMW in 2010-11 where he coached some of the top athletes at the Division III national level. He outlined and implemented daily practices, assisted in recruiting efforts and aided in the recruitment of the program’s first-ever U.S. Open qualifying swimmer.

He helped the UMW swimmers establish nine team records, eight Capital Athletic Conference records, with two NCAA automatic qualifying times and 15 NCAA provisional marks. Anderson helped two Eagle swimmers to 2011 NCAA Championship All-American honors.

As a student at Mary Washington, Anderson competed as a sprint/middle-distance freestyler, breaststroker, and IM’er. He was a two-time Scholar All-American for the Eagles, three-time conference record holder and the Mary Washington and Capital Athletic Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2010.

A captain and four-year letter winner, Anderson racked up numerous awards as a member of the UMW team, including 22 all-conference awards, 12 conference championships and team MVP honors. He also gained NCAA Championship-provisional qualifying standards three times during his career.

Anderson earned his bachelor’s degree from UMW in May ’10. He was a six-time Dean’s List student and graduated with a 3.68 G.P.A. in English. He earned his master’s degree in English for writing, rhetoric and media arts from Trinity College in May ’13.