Whitman Named Assistant at Southern Illinois

CARBONDALE, Illinois, October 2. GREG Whitman has been named assistant coach for Southern Illinois University's swimming and diving program, head coach Rick Walker announced Friday.

Whitman replaces Chris Gally, who left the team following the 2005-06 season.

"We're excited to have Greg come on staff here at SIU," Walker said. "His experience at a higher level really stood out to us and his aggressive ability to go out and recruit and basically do everything a head coach is doing. This is going to give him a lot of good experience so that when he moves out of here to a head coaching position, he is going to have some really good experience at a good Division I program."

Whitman comes to SIU after one season as men's assistant swimming coach at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. While at Dartmouth, the team set two school records and finished No. 2 in the nation in GPA among swimming and diving teams.

As for what brought him to SIU, Whitman gives Walker all the credit.

"Working and talking with Rick Walker," Whitman said. "Knowing him from a professional level prior to coming here, the success of the program and the thought that I can be a part of that is what interested me in the position. I want to continue to produce at the level that they program has been producing, help generate some more revenue for the program and help secure the future of the program."

Prior to coaching at Dartmouth, Whitman spent five years at Metropolitan State College in his hometown of Denver, Colo.

He was the assistant coach for both the men's and women's teams from 2000-04 before taking over the reigns as head coach for the 2004-05 season.

Under his watch, the team had four All-Americans and three Academic All-Americans while setting six school records.

His coaching experience also goes beyond the collegiate level as he has worked for several years with masters-level and youth-level club teams.

Whitman is the founder and president of the Roadrunner Aquatic Club, a program that works with Denver's public school system to promote swimming and water safety.

He was also the head coach of the Monaco Masters (Denver) in 2004-05 and assistant coach of the Aquawolves Swim Pack (Englewood, Colo.) from 1996-2002.

Whitman also brings experience as an assistant coach at national-level camps. He worked at the University of Southern California's Schubert Swim Camp in 2000, the United States Air Force Academy Falcons Swim Camp in 2005 and 2006, and at the University of Michigan Wolverines Swim Camp in 2006.

Whitman received his bachelors degree in psychology from the University of Kansas in 2000 and has completed one year of graduate school.

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