North Dakota Hires Navy’s Chris Maiello as Head Swimming Coach

GRAND FORKS, North Dakota, June 4. UNIVERSITY of North Dakota Director of Athletics Brian Faison announced Chris Maiello (pronounced my-ELL-oh) as UND's new Head Swimming and Diving Coach Tuesday, following a national search. Maiello brings an impressive background that includes success at the collegiate and international levels.

“We are excited to have Coach Maiello on board,” said Faison. “His passion for the sport, his in-depth knowledge of developing training based on energy systems, his communication skills and his tenacious recruiting abilities will serve our program well.”

Maiello comes to UND after spending the last five seasons as the assistant men's swimming coach and recruiting coordinator at the United States Naval Academy. His list of accomplishments include helping lead the Midshipmen to a 61-11 record with 11 individual and seven relay conference champions. In his tenure at Navy, Maiello mentored 29 swimmers with all-time top ten performances at the academy with five of his athletes swimming at the 2012 Olympics Trials meet. He was also the head swimming coach for the Navy USA swimming team and the U.S. National Military team, where he's trained and coached athletes at the 2010 World Military Swimming Championships in Warendorf, Germany and the 2011 World Military Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Maiello quickly rose through the coaching ranks, leading the men's swimming and diving programs at Amsterdam High School immediately upon graduation before landing as an assistant and later head coach at the University of Rochester (2005-06). He then transitioned to become the head men's and women's swimming coach and aquatics director at Darton College (2006-08).

In his two seasons at Darton (2006-08), his team set or reset 31 of 39 school records. In his first season, he recruited and signed 32 athletes. His recruiting acumen would later land him a class that ranked 13th in the nation in 2012-13 at Navy. Maiello inherited a Darton program that saw its men's team place 12th and its women's team 15th at the 2006 NJCAA National Championship in the year prior to his arrival. His initial season at the school saw the women place seventh and the men place ninth at the 2007 national event, with both programs recording third-place showings at the 2008 championship meet. Among the swimmers he coached at Darton were two who won junior college national titles.

A two-time NCAA All-America honoree as a student-athlete at Hartwick College, earned accolades in the 100 and 200 freestyle events (2002 and 2001, respectively). He left the school as the record holder in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle events.

“I am honored to lead the men's and women's swimming and diving programs at UND,” Maiello said. “The athletic department has a rich tradition and I see the foundation for great success in the swimming and diving programs. I wish to thank Brian Faison and Daniella Irle for their tireless commitment to swimming and diving and the vision for the programs that we share. UND Athletics is truly a first class organization. I would also like to thank my wife Kimberly and all of the family support we have received during this time of transition. I look forward to getting started.”

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use