Carol Capitani Set to be Next Head Women’s Swimming Coach at Texas; Texas Makes it Official

AUSTIN, Texas, April 20. GEORGIA head coach Jack Bauerle has confirmed to Swimming World that Georgia associate head coach Carol Capitani is to be named the next head women's swimming coach at the University of Texas. Later in the day on Friday, Texas announced the hire in the press release found below.

Texas officials, however, initially denied that any hire has been made, and only that the school was close to a decision. Texas initially confirmed to Swimming World that Capitani was a candidate for the position. Meanwhile, members of the team confirmed that the team was told yesterday that Capitani would be the next head women's swimming coach at Texas.

Capitani replaces Kim Brackin, who parted ways with the Longhorns earlier this month.

Texas press release
AUSTIN, Texas — Carol Capitani, who has served as associate head coach at the University of Georgia's men's and women's program, has been named women's swimming and diving head coach at The University of Texas. The announcement was made Friday afternoon by UT Women's Athletics Director Chris Plonsky.

“Carol has been instrumental in recruiting and building champions and leaders at Georgia, and we know she will bring that mentality to The University of Texas,” said Plonsky. “She is obviously a strong program manager, technical coach and trainer. But what sets Carol apart are her skills as a master motivator and communicator. She derives the ultimate in accountability and effort from student-athletes. She also is creative and collaborative in her approach to coaching, something very evident during the search process. We are very proud that she is assuming this leadership role. Our program needs to be and can be nationally competitive. She shares our high expectations for work ethic and excellence.”

Capitani's appointment runs through Aug. 31, 2017. She becomes the 10th head coach in the history of the Texas program, replacing Kim Brackin who coached six seasons.

Capitani spent 14 years at Georgia during two different stints. She was as an assistant coach for 12 years (1996-2008) before returning to Athens in the summer of 2010 and serving as associate head coach for the last two seasons. Capitani worked as the assistant head coach for the Singapore National Team from 2009-10.

While a member of the Georgia staff, Capitani was a part of four NCAA team titles (1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005) and seven NCAA second-place finishes (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2012) with the Lady Bulldogs. She was also a part of six top-10 NCAA finishes with the men's team and helped the Bulldogs garner five Southeastern Conference titles. This past year, Georgia finished second at the NCAA Women's Championship and 11th at the NCAA Men's Championship. Capitani worked primarily with the main group and also worked closely with the breaststrokers.

“I would like to thank Chris Plonsky and the administration at The University of Texas for providing the opportunity to become a head coach at the highest level of college athletics,” said Capitani. “I am very excited to lead a program with such great tradition and history, and Texas is a great institution that takes pride in excelling in athletics and academics. I have seen the commitment Texas has for helping its swimming and diving program be one of the best, and I am really looking forward to helping this program and the student-athletes reach and exceed their full potential.”

Prior to her time at Georgia, Capitani had a three-year stint from 1993-1996 as Associate Coach for the men's and women's programs at Villanova University. She helped lead the Lady Wildcats to three consecutive Big East Championship team titles, and several men and women at Villanova scored at the NCAA Championships in each of those three seasons.

Along with her experience with the Singapore National Team, Capitani has served on several national team staffs. She was an assistant coach for the U.S. National Team during the 2011 World University Games in China. Capitani was the Singapore head coach for the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Laos and the 2009 Asian Youth Games in Singapore. She also served as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Team at the 2007 Japan International Grand Prix in Tokyo and the 2005 World University Games in Turkey.

Capitani spent her collegiate swimming career at the University of California, where she accumulated eight All-America honors in the individual medley and breaststroke events. She graduated from the University of California in 1991 with a B.A. in English and completed her Master's degree in English at Villanova University in 1999.

She and her husband, Kevin, have two daughters, Carmen Jane (born November 1, 2002) and Tatum Louise (born December 16, 2004).

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