Carol Capitani and Whitney Hite, standout collegiate coaches with extensive international coaching experience, have been selected to lead USA Swimming as head coaches at the 2017 World University Games, National Team Director Frank Busch announced today.
Capitani, the women’s coach at Texas, will serve as the U.S. women’s head coach. Hite, who heads Wisconsin’s combined program, will lead the American men.
In her fifth year at Texas, Capitani recently led the Longhorns to a fifth-place finish at the 2017 NCAA Championships – the program’s top showing since 2009. She is a two-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year.
On the international front, Capitani served as an assistant coach for the United States at the 2011 and 2013 World University Games and was the women’s head coach at the 2013 Duel in the Pool. Most recently, she was an assistant for the Team USA women at the 2016 FINA World Championships – 25m.
Hite recently completed his sixth season as Wisconsin, where the women placed 15th and the men 18th at the 2017 NCAA Championships. He has led the Badgers to a combined six top-15 NCAA Championships finishes.
With USA Swimming, Hite was a men’s assistant coach for the 2015 FINA World Championships.
The 2017 World University Games will be held in Taipei City, Taiwan, with the swimming competition slated for Aug. 20-27. Team USA’s sole qualifying event is the 2017 Phillips 66 National Championships, which will be held June 27-July 1 in Indianapolis.