The University of Kansas has announced the hiring of Mary Woods-Lopez as an assistant swim coach for their women’s swimming and diving program. Woods-Lopez replaces longtime assistant Jen Betz, who retired on July 28 after serving as an assistant coach with the team since the 2000-01 season.
“We are thrilled to welcome Mary to our staff,” head coach Clark Campbell said in the university’s press release. “She accomplished so much as a head coach at Saint Louis University, and we are confident she will make a tremendous impact on our program. Mary is a complete coach who will elevate everyone around her.”
Woods-Lopez joins the Jayhawks following a six-year stint at Saint Louis University, where she resigned on August 12. She began as a graduate assistant in 2020 and was promoted to an assistant coach in 2022. She was appointed as the interim head coach early into the 2022-23 campaign after the resignation of the previous head coach, Jim Halliburton. Halliburton resigned a week into the school year, leaving the school scrambling to find a new head coach.
While leading SLU, Woods-Lopez managed all operations and seasonal planning for a roster that had about 50 athletes per season. Under her leadership, four school records were set. In her interim year in the 2022-23 season, SLU placed 8th of 8 teams for men and 10th of 11 teams for women at Atlantic 10 Championships. In 2023-24 and 2024-25, they placed 8th of 8 teams for men and 11th of 11 teams for women.
Prior to her coaching career, Woods-Lopez swam for Carmel High School and Carmel Swim Club. She went on to compete for Division III Depauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where she was a team captain. Her best North Coast Athletic Conference finish came as a sophomore, where she placed second in the 100 IM and seventh in the 100 breast. She graduated with school records in the 100 IM, as well as being a part of the 200 free relay, 200 medley relay, and 400 medley relay teams.
