Army Brings Hannah Saiz to West Point as Assistant Coach
The United Sates Military Academy at West Point last week announced the hiring of Hannah Saiz as an assistant coach.
Saiz spent the 2022-23 season at Boston University, under the leadership of the now retired Bill Smyth. She ran the program for three months after Smyth’s retirement, and before that handled the Terriers recruiting efforts. The Terriers set five team records last year.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Hannah to the Army West Point Swimming & Diving family!,” head coach Brandt Nigro said in a university statement. “Hannah brings a wealth of experience both as a coach and as an elite-level competitive swimmer. Hannah’s swimming career went from walk-on at Kenyon University to earning a spot on the US National Team in the span of just a few years. Her athletic growth and successes exemplify what can happen when you combine hard work with belief and a culture that supports the relentless pursuit of greatness. I’m excited for her to share that mindset and those experiences with our cadet-athletes as we continue our climb within the NCAA and USA Swimming communities.”
Saiz was previously the head coach and aquatics director at St. Norbert College, a Division III school in Wisconsin. Her swimmers there set 31 team records and won six individual and five relay conference championships.
From 2017-19, Saiz was both a volunteer assistant coach at NCAA Division III powerhouse Kenyon College, her alma mater, and the head coach at Mount Vernon High School in Ohio. She founded SERF Swimming to provide community-based aquatics programs on Kenyon’s campus in 2018.
Saiz served on USA Swimming’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Council from 2020-22 and as an athlete representative on USA Swimming’s Safe Sport Committee in 2017-18.
“When building a staff, our goal is always to find highly motivated and self-driven coaches who want to be part of building something special,” Nigro said. “Coaching at Army West Point is a challenge and an opportunity to lead and mentor young men and women who will go on to do amazing things for our country through their service. Hannah’s personality, intellect, and tenacity will make an instant and positive impact on our program’s ability to recruit, educate, train, and inspire leaders of character!”