Michigan State swimming and diving coach Matt Gianiodis announced the hiring of Manny Noguchi as an assistant coach Friday. Noguchi has spent the last year working as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Georgia and completing his master's degree in education.

"We are thrilled to have Manny here at Michigan State," Gianiodis said. "He has so much experience and we expect those experiences will help our program as we continually work to improve. He will spend the summer at the Olympics, and that will only help him grow as a coach. This was a long process and we believe that we came out with the best candidate for the job."

As a volunteer assistant coach at Georgia, Noguchi was responsible for writing workouts, teaching technique and providing dryland exercise for the Bulldog swimmers.

His experience includes working as the head coach at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan in 2001-2002, and a stint with the U.S. National Team staff as an interpreter and media coordinator at the Swimming World Championships in Japan in July, 2001. Noguchi also coached the University of Georgia Masters'-aged swimmers and worked as an assistant at the Athens Bulldog Swim Club.

Noguchi received his associate of science degree from Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in 1996, where he also was a member of the swimming team that won the California Junior College Championship. He graduated with a B.S. degree in kinesiology from Cal Poly in December, 1998.