Judy Wolfe has seen her career as a swimming coach move all around the country. On Tuesday, her journey brought her to the Patty Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to interview for the head coaching position in the inaugural season of Nanook swimming.

"It's an attractive job opportunity," Wolfe said. "The professional opportunity presented by building a program from the beginning is something I couldn't pass up. And the more I looked into it and the more I thought about it, moving to Alaska presents a real personal challenge as well."

The native of Buffalo, N.Y., has been coaching at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania since 2001. Before that, Wolfe taught the swimmers at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.

Wolfe also commanded the deck at James Madison University in Virginia, where she earned her master's degree in physical education. She has coached All-Americans and national champions. All of these credentials were on full display Tuesday in a social at the Nanook Lounge.

UAF is expected to start a women's swimming program for the 2005-06 season, and Wolfe talked about laying the foundation for a strong UAF team.

While the UAF campus is home to the top dogs of hockey, basketball and volleyball, Wolfe said that there's room for a swimming team.

"We might have to compete with them for a following," she said. "But there's room for another winter sport. We just have to be into it from the beginning and concentrate on what we're doing, rather than thinking about what others are doing.

"If we put together a competitive schedule and bring in fun swimmers to watch, the interest will build itself," Wolfe added. "If you build it, they will come."

Associate athletic director Kip Harmon said that at least one more candidate for the coaching position will be interviewed, and there is no definite date when a coach will be hired.

"We have at least one more interview for sure, but we don't have a time frame for when that will be," Harmon said. "Obviously, we hope to have the position filled by the end of the calendar year, in terms of recruiting, but no definite timetable has been set."