SMU Head Women’s Swimming Coach Steve Collins Retires After 37 Years in Charge

SMU head women’s swimming coach Steve Collins announced his retirement on Monday after 37 years leading the program.

In his 37 seasons, Collins was named the NCAA Coach of the Year twice and earned conference coach of the year on 11 occasions. He led the Mustangs to 17 conference championships and 35 trips to the NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. During his tenure, SMU had 15 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, nine of those in the top five.

SMU saw its greatest success in the 1990s and early 2000s when teams led by 10-time individual NCAA Champion Martina Moravcova, third-most in NCAA history, and five-time individual NCAA Champion Flavia Rigamonti, among others, had the Mustangs as a regular top-5 finisher. In total, the Mustangs have finished in the top five at the NCAA Championships 9 times under Collins, including a peak of 2nd at the 1996 championships.

The Mustangs have not scored at NCAAs since the 2016 championships. At the recent AAC Championship meet, the Mustangs finished 3rd out of 9 teams. Freshman Lucrezia Napoletano from Italy was named the AAC Most Outstanding Swimmer after winning the 50 free (22.70), 100 free (48.61), and 200 free (1:46.19).

“SMU Swimming and Diving owes so much to Steve Collins,” said Director of Athletics Rick Hart. “He has established a championship tradition and culture here on the Hilltop and has shaped the lives of hundreds of student-athletes. The Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium and Holt Hickman Outdoor Pool would not exist if not for Steve’s hard work and love for SMU Swimming and Diving. We are so grateful for his many contributions and wish him the best.”

While SMU has not yet named a replacement, the men’s team is led by Greg Rhodenbaugh, who has experience as head coach of a combined program at the University of Missouri.

Under Collins, 59 individuals earned 239 All-America honors, and 98 relays have been honored. The individual conference championships totaled 373, and 32 athletes competed in nine different Olympics. Collins guided 11 student-athletes to conference swimmer of the year awards, including three-time Conference USA selection Therese Svendsen, three-time WAC selection Martina Moravcova and two-time WAC selection Georgina Lee. Most recently, Lucrezia Napoletano earned honors in the American Athletic Conference in 2023. Erin Trahan was also honored in The American in 2019 on the heels of Matea Samardzic’s back-to-back honors in 2017 and 2018.

Collins led the Mustangs to two AAC championships, nine WAC championships and six C-USA championships for a total of 17 team championships. He also led the Mustangs to their highest finish ever at the NCAA Championships in 1996, when SMU finished second in the nation and earned Collins his second NCAA National Coach of the Year award. He was also tabbed NCAA Coach of the Year in 1991. Collins was named SWC Coach of the Year in 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1996, WAC Coach of the Year in 1997 and 1998, C-USA Coach of the Year in 2007, 2008, and 2012 and most recently The American Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2016.

In 2021, Collins was named a College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association’s (CSCAA) 100 Greatest College Swimming & Diving Coaches of the past 100 years.

A successful coach on the international level as well, Collins was appointed to the Bulgarian staff for the 2016 and 2012 Olympics, and was the head coach of the Slovakian Olympic Team at the 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 summer games. Collins’ swimmers at SMU have earned medals at the Olympic Games, World Championships, World University Games, European, Pan American Games, Mediterranean and African Championships. Since his arrival on the Hilltop in 1986, Collins has coached 33 Olympians, including 1997 NCAA Swimmer of the Year and former SMU volunteer assistant coach Moravcova, who won two silver medals at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, and also competed in the 1992, 1996, 2004 and 2008 summer games.

Before arriving on the Hilltop, Collins served seven years as head coach of the South Carolina swimming program, leading the Gamecocks to two MCAC Championships and six top-20 NCAA finishes in seven years. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Collins attended Eastmoor High School in Columbus, Ohio. Collins and his wife Toni, an SMU graduate and CPA, are proud parents of twin daughters, Kate and Hanna, who attend SMU and serve as managers for the program. A 1977 graduate of Florida State, Collins swam freestyle and backstroke events for the Seminoles and captained the Florida State team his senior year.

Portions of this report were taken from a press release by SMU Athletics.