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.
Having been the head coach of the UNC Asheville women’s swimming and diving team since 2012, Elizabeth Lykins has consistently been leading the team to new program highs over the last nine years.
But things have been rising to a new level of late.
During the 2019-20 season, the Bulldogs recorded a program-best fourth-place finish at the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Swimming and Diving Championships. The team matched that showing last season, resulting in Lykins being named CCSA Coach of the Year for a third straight year.
This season, Lykins has vaulted the team off to a tantalizing start, currently sitting at 5-0 after defeating both UNC Wilmington and Campbell for the first time in program history last weekend.
The team is now 13-1-1 over its last 15 dual meets, and has largely dominated all of their competition so far, with both freshmen and veteran swimmers performing well.
With Lykins at the helm, the team appears to be in line to challenge for a top-three CCSA showing.
The team will continue its red-hot campaign by hosting conference rival Georgia Southern on Friday and Saturday.
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Well deserved Coach!!!