The University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) recently announced that Jos Smith has been hired as an assistant coach for the 2015-2016 season. Head Coach Jason Memont is very excited about the future of the program with Smith on board.
“Jos has experience swimming and coaching at the highest levels of the sport. I look forward to his passion and enthusiasm immediately paying off in coaching and recruiting. With this hire I believe we have built one of the strongest assistant coaching groups in the country.” – Coach Jason Memont
Smith has spent the last two years at the University of Georgia as a volunteer assistant coach and has also served as the head senior coach at Athens Bulldogs Swim Club.
A native of the state of Georgia, Smith was recruited by Gregg Troyy out of high school and went on to swim for the Florida Gators in college. While at Florida, Smith earned All-American honors four times and was a member of the SEC All-Academic team.
“I’m very excited about this opportunity to coach at UNCW. I am honored to work with head coach Jason Memont and assistant coach Alex de la Pena. I have been impressed with the school and everyone I have met. Looking forward to a fantastic year.” – Jos Smith
UNCW is rebounding well after nearly losing their program in 2013. A University-commissioned report on long-term sports program viability recommended the termination of men’s and women’s swimming and diving in addition to three other sports. A large campaign was launched by the members of the UNCW swim team to save their program and the community rallied behind them. Six months after the university announced that they recommended swimming and three other sports should be cut, the UNCW Chancellor Gary Miller announced that, based on the overwhelming community response, no sports would be cut.
Last year, the men’s team finished third at the CAA Championships and the women’s team finished sixth.
