After 14 seasons as the head coach of the South Carolina swim and dive program, McGee Moody ‘will no longer lead the program’, according to a press release from Athletic Director Ray Tanner.
The statement said the decision was a ‘mutual agreement between Moody and the athletics department’.
“The past year has been difficult for everyone … athletes, coaches and administrators. We put everything in last season, ”said Moody.
“In recent years, I have not been satisfied with our results at the SEC level. I believe that trying to dedicate myself more to this work will affect my family, my health and these are things that I am not ready to sacrifice. Therefore, we believe that now is the right time to step back and give someone the honor of leading the program. I am grateful to Ray Tanner and Chance Miller for the opportunity to lead such a prestigious program and I am looking forward to tracking its success in the future. “
During Moody’s tenure, Gamecocks finished seventh on the men’s side and sixth on the women’s side in the SEC Championship. The men’s last seventh place was in 2018, and they finished ninth, tenth and tenth in the past three seasons (including the 2021 match). Women ranked sixth in 2011, and ninth in 2019 and 2020 and 11 in 2021.
Nationally, men reached the top 20 in all NCAA meetings from 2015 to 2018, while women finished in the top 30 at NCAAs in 2016, 2018 and 2019, including a 20th place in 2018. Stretching for men nationally came with a few top swimmers leading the way, including Akram Mahmoud and Fynn Minuth, who stood out while training very well Mark Bernardino was a principal trainer associated with the Gamecocks. After helping build this group remotely in South Carolina, Bernardino got a job on the NC State team in 2018, where he has been ever since.
At the helm of the South Carolina program, Moody’s teams have racked up 143 victories in men’s and women’s duels in their careers, the highest number of any Carolina coach in history. The program had 74 All-Americans and 48 All-SEC players in his tenure, and three athletes competed in the Olympics while he was the head coach: Akram Mahmoud and diver Julia Vincent in 2016 and Sharntelle McLean in 2008.
Moody also trained the program’s first female SEC swimming champion, Amanda Rutqvist. She won 200 breaststroke in 2011.
Before coming to Carolina, Moody was the chief swimming coach for William & Mary for three seasons and was the coach of the year for the Colonial Athletic Association in 2007. Before William & Mary, Moody spent four seasons as an assistant swimming coach in the Navy from 2001 to 2004.
Moody’s first coaching job was in his alma mater, East Carolina University, where he was the main assistant swimming coach for men and women from 1996-2000. Moody swam every four years while he was a student at ECU.
With the launch of the school, there is a national search for a new coach that will start immediately. Although no man should be invited to the 2021 NCAA Men’s Championship, Gamecock, sophomore year Janie Smith it’s an invitation from the female side. She reached 48.69 out of 100 freestyle at the 2021 SEC Championships to get an invitation sown at 35th, while she had ‘B’ cuts at 100 fly and 50 free as well.