One day after announcing Pam Swander as their new assistant coach, replacing the departed Mark Bernardino, South Carolina has added another as Mike Simpson steps in as an assistant for both the men’s and women’s swimming programs. With this addition, it looks like their staff will grow by one next year. The announcement of the hiring was made by swimming & diving head coach McGee Moody.
Welcome aboard Mike Simpson! 🔥🔥🔥🏊‍♂️🏊‍♀️🤙#Gamecocks
đź“°- https://t.co/D7fJVlHIuv pic.twitter.com/4RQwYwYy07
— Gamecock Swimming (@GamecockSwim) July 3, 2018
“I am so excited to join Gamecock swimming and diving. It’s tough leaving a place where you put down roots for 19 years but my wife and I are ready to take a leap of faith and make a difference in Columbia,” said Simpson.
Simpson joins the Gamecocks after spending the last 19 seasons as the head coach at Gardner-Webb University since the program’s inception in 1999.
“McGee (Moody) has put together a great staff that’s going to have a lot of fun and a fantastic team culture that Coach Pam (Swander) and I hope to contribute to,” continued Simpson.
Simpson led the Gardner-Webb women from the beginning, starting in ’99, and later took over the GWU men’s team prior to the 07-08 season. He led the women’s program to four straight Northeast Conference Championships from 2003-2007, and was named NEC coach of the year four times.
“Mike has a wealth of swimming knowledge that he has used to create and build the Gardner-Webb program. His ability to connect with athletes and bring out the best in them is invaluable,” described Moody. “He is one of the country’s best swimming minds and showed me immediately that he cares deeply about our program and investing in the future success of all of our Gamecock swimmers and divers.”
“I am excited to see Mike’s impact on our team culture and the extent to which he will continue to help us climb in the national rankings. This is a dream staff. I couldn’t be happier with the coaches that now make up the Gamecock swimming and diving staff. The future is bright,” concluded Moody.
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Great Coach and and even better person! Well Deserved and Congrats!
Congrats Mike (and Cathy). Proud that you had an influence on BASH swimmers.
Good luck for continued success.
Congrats Mike (and Kathy). You’ve come along way from BASH. Proud to know you had an influence on my daughters. They sure knew how to swim distance races.
Congrats! Excited for you and proud to call you a friend!
Shocker! A downvote on this comment! No class! Braden, you should ban numbskulls that Down vote a comment like this!
I hope Braden has better things to do than police down votes.
So excited. As a current head coach in South Carolina there are big things to come in this state! Congrats coach!
Congrats Dad!
Great man. Great mentor. Great coach. USC is very lucky to have him on staff. The only downside? He is a die-hard Seminole alum!! All the best to Mike and his family.
SC just got their biggest win in program history, congrats coach!
Couldn’t agree more Nathan