Justin Anderson begins his sixth year as head men's and women's swimming coach at the University of Mary Washington. Anderson, a 2010 UMW graduate, returned to his alma mater after five seasons as head coach at Frostburg State University, and has continued the mantel of success in Fredericksburg.
In his first five years at UMW, the Eagles swept both CAC Championships in 2019 and 2020, with Anderson winning Coach of the Year each year, and, after a cancelled season due to Covid, has won two straight women's titles in the METS conference, fiishing in the top 25 at NCAAs each year.
The summer of 2021 saw Anderson named to the Team USA coaching staff for the 2020/21 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Anderson coached former UMW assistant Coach, Zach Shattuck, and 2021 graduate, Joey Peppersack to spots on Team USA, and both men made the championship finals at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
From 2013-2018 Anderson guided a Frostburg State team from the bottom of the conference standings into a significant conference squad, as the Bobcats climbed the CAC standings as numerous swimmers gained personal best, conference-winning times, CAC Swimmer of the Year Awards and advancement to the NCAA Championships.
"I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to coach at my alma mater", said Anderson. "Mary Washington and the swimming program have given me so much and I'm so fortunate to be standing on an incredibly solid foundation that has been built for over 40 years by some phenomenal women and men. I feel like I'm standing on all of their shoulders."
Prior to his time at Frostburg, Anderson was an assistant coach at Trinity College. He headed the program's recruiting efforts and implemented practice plans, helping recruit the first-ever male swimmer to achieve NCAA provisional qualifying times in multiple events and he guided the women's team to their highest GPA in program history and the tenth highest GPA in the nation. He also assisted the aquatics director with planning and coordinating the facility schedule and lifeguard coverage. He coached the Bantams to over 200 personal best times, 29 varsity school records, 12 first-year records and six NCAA provisional qualifying performances.
Anderson served as an assistant at UMW in 2010-11 where he coached some of the top athletes at the Division III national level. He outlined and implemented daily practices, assisted in recruiting efforts and aided in the recruitment of the program's first-ever NCAA Division III National Champion and Division III Swimmer of the Year.
He helped the UMW swimmers establish nine team records, eight Capital Athletic Conference records, with two NCAA automatic qualifying times and 15 NCAA provisional marks. Anderson also helped two Eagle swimmers to 2011 NCAA Championship All-American honors.
As a student at Mary Washington, Anderson competed as a sprint/middle-distance freestyler, breaststroker, and IM'er. He was a two-time Scholar All-American for the Eagles, three-time conference record holder and the Mary Washington and Capital Athletic Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2010.
A captain and four-year letter winner, Anderson racked up numerous awards as a member of the UMW team, including 22 all-conference awards, 12 conference championships and team MVP honors. He also gained NCAA Championship-provisional qualifying standards three times during his career.
Anderson earned his bachelor's degree from UMW in May '10. He was a six-time Dean's List student and graduated with a 3.68 G.P.A. in English. He earned his master's degree in English for writing, rhetoric and media arts from Trinity College in May '13.
