Savannah College of Art and Design Hires Wes Sinclair as Head Coach

SAVANNAH, Georgia, June 13. SAVANNAH College of Art and Design Director of Athletics Jud Damon announced that Wes Sinclair has been hired as the new men's and women's swimming coach for the Bees. He will begin at SCAD June 23.

Sinclair replaces Scott Rabalais, who left SCAD to pursue other opportunities. Rabalais started the swimming program from scratch in the fall of 2002 as a club program and within six months, swimming became a varsity sport.

The Bees have amassed a 251-144 record (151-71 women, 100-73 men) over the past six seasons, good for a .635 winning percentage. SCAD swimmers have earned 19 national titles at the NAIA National Championships in the program's history.

Both SCAD teams earned their second consecutive third-place finish at the NAIA National Championships in San Antonio, Texas, in March as the Bees earned seven national titles – the second-highest total in the history of the program – and set the college's second NAIA meet record.

"We are truly looking forward to Wes joining our staff here at SCAD," said Damon. "He is clearly a coach who will be instantly respected and liked by our athletes. I know he'll be successful in ensuring a quality collegiate athletic experience for our swimmers and continuing to move the program forward to even greater successes."

Sinclair has spent the past 12 seasons as head coach of four club swimming programs – Carolina Aquatics, Fort Wayne Aquatics, Miami Valley Aquatics and Mequon Area Swim Team. During his career, he has coached four Olympic Trial qualifiers, one national junior team member, five national champions, 10 senior national qualifiers and 14 U.S. Open qualifiers. His teams have won five state championship titles, while his swimmers have won 15 state championships.

"I would like to thank SCAD Athletics Director Jud Damon for extending this unique opportunity to my family and I," said Sinclair. "I am very proud to have coached at the USA Swimming club level for the past 17 years. At the same time, I am extremely excited at the prospect of coaching at the collegiate level. It is evident to me that the athletics department projects a family atmosphere while working toward the common goals of academic and athletic success. Historically, SCAD has been near the top of the NAIA rankings and I greatly look forward to making the next step in approaching a team championship."

As a collegiate swimmer, Sinclair was 13-time NAIA All-American swimmer at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire. He won two national titles for the Blugolds as he captured both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events during the 1990 season. At the time, Sinclair set the NAIA meet record in the 200 breaststroke (2:03.93) event. The current NAIA 200 breaststroke record is held by SCAD swimmer Thomas Gibson who set the new mark this season with a winning time of 2:00.76.

After earning his bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Sinclair spent one season as a graduate assistant coach for national power Auburn University.

Special thanks to SCAD for contributing this report.

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