Competitor Coach of the Month is a recurring SwimSwam feature shedding light on a U.S.-based coach who has risen above the competition. As with any item of recognition, Competitor Coach of the Month is a subjective exercise meant to highlight one coach whose work holds noteworthy context – perhaps a coach who was clearly in the limelight, or one whose work fell through the cracks a bit more among other stories. If your favorite coach wasn’t selected, feel free to respectfully recognize them in our comment section.
Carol Capitani has the herd headed in the right direction.
The Longhorn wrangler – aka head coach of the University of Texas Longhorns – helped lead one of the bigger dual meet upsets of the past few seasons this month as her Texas team handed defending NCAA champs Georgia their first home loss in 22 years.
It was a huge 171-124 win for Texas on the road against the Bulldogs, with senior Madisyn Cox nailing three individual wins to power the Longhorn stampede. Cox’s development has been on full display this year. In her four seasons under Capitani, Cox has improved her 200 IM from 1:59.3 to 1:52.8, her 400 IM from 4:16.1 to 4:03.1 and her 200 breast from 2:14.1 to 2:07.21.
The Georgia win wasn’t Capitani’s only success of January. The Longhorns also went on the road to beat Auburn 156-139, with Cox also winning three events. In between those two duals, breaststroker Olivia Anderson also put up a top-3 finish at the Arena Pro Swim Series’s opening stop in Austin.
Capitani’s Longhorns jumped to #1 in the CSCAA dual meet poll and to #4 in our January Power Ranks. The Longhorns are currently the only team in the nation with a swimmer ranked inside the NCAA’s top 16 in every single event for the season.
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Best looking one too
At a way Carol AND Roric!
Capitani is the real deal. Congratulations to her and her fine team.
“In her four seasons under Capitani, Cox has improved her 200 IM from 1:59.3 to 1:52.8, her 400 IM from 4:16.1 to 4:03.1 and her 200 breast from 2:14.1 to 2:07.21.”
Now THAT is great coaching! How many programs can boast a star swimmer who improves every year?
well I hear there’s a coach on the Texas men’s team that seems to do that every year
And there is even a more famous Coach Cap in Austin.
Wrong Olivia Anderson. The one at the Arena Pro Series is a Canadian distance swimmer, not the Texas breaststroker.