Alabama Associate Ozzie Quevedo Named New Women’s Head Coach At SMU

Ozzie Quevedo has been named the new head women’s swimming & diving coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU), the school announced today. 

Quevedo joins SMU after four years at Alabama, where he has served as an associate head coach since June of 2019. During his time at Alabama, he was also interim head coach in December of 2020 through May of 2021. He was promoted to senior associate head coach in July of 2022. 

Quevedo is one of the rare associates who has stayed on the same staff for two different head coaches. He was hired originally by Coley Stickels in 2019, then stayed on when Margo Geer took over in the 2021-2022 season.

The women’s head coaching position opened last month when Steve Collins announced his retirement after 37 years at the helm of the program.

“We are delighted to welcome Ozzie, Irene, Victoria, Camilla and Nicholas to the Hilltop. Ozzie’s experience as an elite athlete, a coach at some of the top swim programs in the country and his vision for the future of SMU women’s swimming propelled him to the top of our list,” said Director of Athletics, Rick Hart. 

“He will continue our tradition of excellence established under Steve Collins and win championships with integrity. I’d like to thank the search committee and our swimming alumni for their support during this process.”

During Quevedo’s stint at Alabama, the Tide earned its highest finish ever at the NCAA Championships with a 4th-place finish in 2022. This year they took 15th to earn their third-consecutive top-15 finish at NCAAs. Kensey McMahon led the way for Alabama this season with two NCAA titles, winning both the 500 and 1650. 

Quevedo had been the primary coach for Rhyan White, who was named to the U.S. Olympic team in 2021. White went on to earn 4th in both the 100m and 200m backstroke in Tokyo. Due to White’s success, Quevedo was named to the 2021-2022 U.S. National Team coaching staff and served as an assistant coach for Team USA in Abu Dhabi for the Short Course World Championships. 

Prior to joining Alabama, Quevedo was at Florida State for three seasons after doing three at his alma mater, Auburn. In his own swimming career at Auburn, he earned six All-American accolades, and was a member of the NCAA-winning 200 freestyle relay in 2000 that set an NCAA record. He competed at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 for Venezuela, where he competed in the 100m fly and 400m freestyle relay.

Quevedo graduated from Auburn in 2004 with his bachelor’s in criminal justice. He and his wife Irene have two daughters, Victoria and Camilla, and a son, Nicholas. 

The SMU women are coming off of a third-place finish at the AAC Championship. They were led this year by freshman Lucrezia Napoletano, who won AAC titles in the 50 free (22.70), 100 free (48.61), and 200 free (1:46.19), earning the AAC Most Outstanding Swimmer award. They have not scored at the NCAA Championships since 2016.