WEST POINT, N.Y., July 19. ARMY Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson announced the hiring of Long Island native Mickey Wender as the next men\u2019s and women\u2019s swimming and diving head coach at the U.S. Military Academy Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Wender becomes the ninth men\u2019s head coach in the program\u2019s 85 years of existence and the sixth head coach of a women\u2019s squad that enters its 28th season of intercollegiate competition. The 16-year collegiate coaching veteran comes to West Point after spending the past eight campaigns in charge of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s swimming teams at the University of Washington, where he authored a dual-meet record of 155-60.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very excited to announce the hiring of Mickey Wender as the next men\u2019s and women\u2019s swimming and diving coach at the United States Military Academy,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cHe has excelled at the highest level of his field, helping to develop countless All-Americans over the years in one of the most competitive swimming conferences in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cComplementing his vast success in the pool, he brings an impressive record of leadership development that has remained constant throughout his illustrious coaching career. We feel Mickey will serve as outstanding role model for our cadet-athletes, providing them the best experience possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Setauket, N.Y., native restored the Washington Huskies program to national prominence in his tenure on deck at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center and Husky Pool while competing in the Pacific-10 conference. The Huskies\u2019 women\u2019s program has appeared in the national rankings two of the past three seasons, and the men\u2019s squad earned national recognition from 2000 to 2005.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m honored and humbled to have been selected as the next swimming and diving coach at the United States Military Academy,\u201d Wender said. \u201cI really feel that coming to West Point is a perfect fit for me and my family. It has always been a dream of mine to serve my country, and to be able to do so while coaching the sport that has become my passion is an incredible blessing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the Army program has a ton of potential and presents a unique opportunity to compete at a very high level in a competitive league,\u201d Wender said. \u201cGrowing up in the area, I\u2019ve always been fascinated with West Point, and to be able to work there is going to be an amazing privilege. I\u2019m excited to put all of the knowledge and experience that I\u2019ve gained into action at West Point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twelve Huskies\u2019 swimmers earned All-America recognition and 28 qualified for the NCAA Championships during his successful eight-year run in Seattle, Wash. His swimmers broke school records in 32 different events on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n
During the 2003-04 campaign, Washington\u2019s men\u2019s team finished 25th at nationals on the strength of five NCAA qualifiers, including Phil Davis, a Pac-10 champion and conference record-holder in the 200 breaststroke. It was the men\u2019s team\u2019s highest finish at the NCAAs in more than 30 years.<\/p>\n
The women's team sent four swimmers to the 2003 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships and placed 19th for the highest national finish since swimming became an NCAA sponsored sport in 1982. Kim Harada, now an assistant coach with the Huskies, had a phenomenal showing at the championships, recording two fourth-place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyle events to earn All-America honors. She also earned honorable mention honors in the 200 freestyle relay along with teammates Annette Vayo, Melody Staubitz and Sharon Olson.<\/p>\n
Wender\u2019s swimmers not only achieved success in the pool, but were just as impressive in classroom at the university. Ten Huskies were named to the Pac-10 All-Academic squad during the 2001-02 season, including David Moilanen who was a first team Academic All-American, Rhodes Scholar finalist and school record holder in the 100 backstroke. Wender\u2019s swimmers have been honored with postseason awards at the conference and national level each of the past four years. This past season, five men and seven women were named to the Pac-10 All-Academic team. His teams have also garnered awards for community service, academics and school spirit.<\/p>\n
Before joining the Huskies\u2019 program in 1998, Wender led the University of California-Santa Cruz swimming and diving squad to four Top 10 national finishes in six years (1992-98), compiling a 54-6 divisional dual-meet record. After four years, he boosted the Banana Slugs from being unranked to finishing sixth in the Women's NCAA Division III Championships and ninth in the men's division.<\/p>\n
Wender also coached the 1996 NCAA Division III 200 individual medley champion and guided his athletes to more than 60 All-America performances while at UC-Santa Cruz. Furthermore, 90 percent of his athletes graduated in four years. While there, he also served as the aquatics manager and a physical education instructor. Prior to his appointment at UC-Santa Cruz, Wender served as head assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Cal State-Northridge for two seasons from 1990-92. During that time, he aided Pete Accardy, NCAA Division II \u201cCoach of the Decade,\u201d as he phased the program to Division I status.<\/p>\n
Wender was an assistant coach for the USA national team that competed in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1997. He has been very active coaching and implementing programs at the high school and master\u2019s levels, as well as in public relations and public speaking. In addition, he was the founder of the NIKE Swim Camps at UC-Santa Cruz, as well as the San Diego Triathlon Camp. He has also produced a best-selling instructional swim video series and is the founder of Team Starbucks Aquatics, a highly-successful club program.<\/p>\n
Wender has also been a leader in the sport politically and has served in leadership positions of several national and local organizations. Most recently, he served as the president of the Greater Seattle Swim Coaches Association, and he currently sits on the board of the College Swim Coaches Association of America. <\/p>\n
A four-year letterwinner at the University of Vermont, Wender served as team captain and won a state championship while swimming for the Catamounts from 1985 to 1989. He graduated from Vermont in 1989, boasting the school\u2019s highest grade-point average in the physical education program.<\/p>\n
He went on to earn his master's degree in Sport Psychology in 1992 from Cal State-Northridge, and was honored again as the top-ranked student in the school\u2019s Kinesiology department.<\/p>\n
Wender's passion, in addition to coaching, is competing in endurance races. The innovative and energetic coach has completed two Ironman triathlons, and he and four teammates placed ninth in the 1996 Eco Challenge, widely known as one of the world\u2019s toughest athletic events. Wender added to his list of accomplishments an ascent to the peak of Washington's Mt. Rainier in 1999.<\/p>\n
Wender and his wife, Kate, have been married for nine years. They have three children, Samantha Jane (5) and twin boys, Jack and Luke, born in August of 2004.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WEST POINT, N.Y., July 19. ARMY Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson announced the hiring of Long Island native Mickey Wender as the next men\u2019s and women\u2019s swimming and diving head<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n