Miami Hires Shefchunas as Head Coach

CORAL GABLES, Fla., May 20. CHRISTIE Shefchunas has been named head women's swimming coach at the University of Miami. She replaces Mariusz Podkoscielny who resigned the position recently.

"I am absolutely thrilled to be at the University of Miami and excited to get started," Shefchunas said. "The program has great potential and I look forward to the challenge of competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference."

Shefchunas joins the Hurricanes after having been assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at Southern Methodist for the past four seasons.

During her tenure at SMU, the Mustang swimming program finished in the top eight at the NCAA meet three times, and won their conference championships all four seasons (2003, 2004 and 2005 as WAC Champions and 2006 as Conference USA winners). While there, she assisted in the coaching of 22 All-Americans, 33 Conference champions and 26 NCAA qualifiers. In her role as the lead recruiter for SMU women's swimming, she recruited 11 student-athletes that earned All-American honors and 20 went on to win conference titles.

Prior to her stint at SMU, Shefchunas was an assistant at Michigan State from 2000-2002 where she was the men's and women's sprint coach. A 1997 graduate of the University of Tennessee, Shefchunas had a standout collegiate career. As a member of the Volunteers squad, she was a four-time All-American and twice served as a captain on the team.

Commenting on the hiring of Shefchunas, Connie Nickel, UM Associate Athletic Director and Senior Women's Administrator, said: “Christie has a record of success as a student-athlete and a coach at top ranked college programs. She is extremely well regarded by her peers and will be an excellent addition to the UM athletic department."

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