Florida State University

2012 Olympic Coach Three-time World Championship Coach (2011 Shanghai, 2013 Barcelona, 2017 Windsor) Six All-American honors (at FSU) Eight ACC Medalists Six-time CCSA Coach of the Year Seven-time CCSA Champions 2015 NCAA Coach of the Meet (HM) Seven All-American performances (at FGCU) Seven CCSA Swimmers of the Meet Three CCSA Swimmers of the Year 2013 Duane Swanson Jr. Inspirational Award Married to his wife Leah and has two children, Henry and Sophia. Neal Studd became the eighth head coach of Florida State swimming and diving on July 20, 2016. The six-time Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Coach of the Year brought a wealth of experience to Tallahassee after building Florida Gulf Coast University from scratch into one of the best mid-major programs in the country in his nine years at the helm. In 2017-18, the Seminoles broke eight school records 14 times throughout the year, earned six ACC swimming medals and three All-America honors. The men’s 200 free relay produced one of the best NCAA finishes in school history, placing seventh behind junior Will Pisani, senior Chad Mylin, senior Joe Plechy and junior Kanoa Kaleoaloha in school record-setting fashion (1:16.13), capturing All-America accolades, which were the first men’s honors of his career. Florida State also won the consolation heat of the 400 free relay behind junior Emir Muratovic, Plechy, Pisani and Kaleoaloha, becoming the first team in school history to break the 2:50 barrier, clocking 2:49.70. The Seminoles finished the 2018 NCAA Championships in 21st place after being included in every CSCAA poll during the season. The women’s team was led by senior Tayla Lovemore, who captured her second straight All-America honorable mention in the 100 fly behind a 16th place finish at the NCAA Championships after she won ACC bronze. Her classmate Natalie Pierce won her first ACC title in the 100 breast and also secured silver in the 200 breast, setting a new school record at 2:09.05, becoming the fastest breaststroker in FSU history. Freshman Madeline Cohen took down one of the oldest swimming records in the book, dropping a near eight seconds in the 200 back to take down a mark that was set back in 2010, clocking 1:53.51, qualifying for the NCAA Championships. FSU was represented in four relays at the NCAA Championships, just two seasons after not fielding any. In addition, freshman Elise Olsen along with Lovemore, Pierce and Cohen competed in individual swimming events. The Noles improved upon two of their school records, establishing new marks in the 200 free relay (1:28.49) and 400 medley relay (3:32.32). The future also looks bright for the Noles, as Studd secured top recruiting classes including the eighth-ranked women’s class according to swimswam.com for the 2018-19 season. Studd wasted no time in 2016-17, getting to work, helping the FSU men’s team improve to a fifth place finish at the ACC Championships, while helping the women score over 100 more points at the meet than a season ago. The women were highlighted by Pierce, who placed fourth in the 100 breast at the NCAA Championships in school record timing of 58.25 after missing out on an invitation to the meet in 2016. Pierce went on to also place fourth at the World Championship Trials in the 50m breast in the summer of 2017. Studd also coached Lovemore and Christina Loh to school records and NCAA individual bids in the 100 fly (51.6) and 200 breast (2:10.55) respectively. Both teams also saw significant improvement in relays as the women’s team set new FSU records in 200 free, 200 medley and 400 medley relays. Chad Mylin won bronze at the ACC Championships in the 50 free before leading the Noles to an All-American honorable mention behind a 11th place finish in the 200 free relay. Studd has also coached several student-athletes on the international level, including Lovemore and Daniella Van den Berg, who both competed at World Championships during the 2016-17 season. Also, Freshmen Felipe Ribeiro de Souza (Brazil) and Vladimir Stefanik (Slovakia) represented their countries at the 2017 World University Games and Pisani captured a pair of Canadian National titles in both 2017 and 2018. Studd captured seven CCSA Championships in eight years, guiding the Eagles to a 32-1 conference dual record since the program’s 2007-08 inception, when FGCU became a Division I institution. His program celebrated its finest season in 2014-15, finishing 26th at the NCAA Championships with 37.5 points behind three individual scoring performances and the school’s first All-American relay finish. For his efforts, he received Coach of the Meet honorable mention accolades. Last season the Eagles posted wins over three ACC teams (FSU, Notre Dame, Miami) while 2016 CCSA Swimmer of the Year, Elise Haan, took home three conference titles and earned All-America honorable mention with a 16th place finish in the 100 back. Studd coached several standouts during his nine seasons, but none were more decorated than Emma Svensson, who finished her career with four NCAA appearances which included a pair All-America honorable mention accolades in the 50 free, finishing 12th at both the 2014 and 2015 Championships. Svensson also captured the Elite 89 honor at the 2013 meet, which is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA. She was also selected as the 2015 CCSA Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Among a plethora of honors, Svensson was inducted into the FGCU Hall of Fame following the 2014-15 season. Kira Toussaint brought home the program’s first All-American performance in 2014, finishing seventh in the 100 back at the NCAA Championships and later earned the 2014 CCSA Swimmer of the Year accolades. She followed her rookie campaign with an eighth-place showing in the 100 back and 12th place finish in the 200 back in 2015. FGCU established its dominance of the CCSA at the 2009 championships; the first of five consecutive titles. During that stretch, the Eagles captured seven Most Outstanding Swimmers of the Meet and Most Outstanding Freshman honors, in addition to three Swimmer of the Year accolades. Prior to FGCU, Studd spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Florida Atlantic. He returned to FAU after spending one year with the Wall Street firm of Morgan Stanley following his graduation in 1998. Once Studd returned to swimming, he was tasked with working with the sprinters. Under his instruction, the group established the majority of the school records which he had previously held. His group also posted Sun Belt Conference records in addition to several National Independent Conference and Sun Belt titles. Studd coached St. Lucia at the 2012 Olympic Games as well as the 2011 FINA World Championships. He then moved on to coach Barbados at the 2013 World Championships. A native of Ipswich, United Kingdom, Studd was the national junior champion, team captain and record-holder in the 200m free. He competed at FAU from 1994-98 where he was the men’s team captain and Olympic Trials qualifier. He graduated from FAU in 1998 with a B.S. in finance before earning his MBA from FAU in 2002. Studd and his wife Leah have two children, Henry and Sophia.

Steve Wood returns to the Florida State swimming and diving staff as an assistant coach after serving three seasons at UNLV. “I could not be happier to work with Steve again,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “As a volunteer for us, he was just amazing and since then, he has really proved himself at UNLV. I love how well he connects with the student-athletes and his passion for what we do.” Wood was the volunteer assistant coach for FSU from 2016-18, before heading to Las Vegas to be an assistant coach for the Rebels, where he experienced a number of roles. He recently was the primary coach for the middle distance group, which saw major improvements and played a role in taking home both the men’s and women’s conference titles in 2020-21. After finishing the 2020 meet in fourth place, the women took home the Mountain West trophy, edging out the University of Nevada- Reno on the final relay for the win with a total of 1,349 points. It was the first Mountain West title in 16 years and second in program history. The men claimed its first Western Athletic Conference team title in six seasons with an all-time conference record of 907 points. It was the third WAC title in school history. Before his time in Tallahassee, Wood served on the DePauw University staff for one season after spending three years as the head coach at Francis Howell for both the boys’ and girls’ squads. He was also an assistant for the Rex-Plex Sharks club team. Wood is a graduate of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in sports administration and a minor in coaching. He swam all four years for the Salukis where he was a captain, earning second team All-MAC as a junior and senior while specializing in the IM and breast events. A native of O’Fallon, Missouri, Wood is married to the former Meredith Martelle, who was a part of the ACC Championship-winning team back in 2006 at Florida State. The couple have a daughter, Quincy. Meredith Wood will take over as the director of operations, a role in which she served from 2016-18. “Meredith and I are both very excited to be heading back to Florida State,” Wood said. “We had an incredible three years at UNLV, but the timing and opportunity seemed right to come back to FSU. We are excited to help continue building on the success that Neal and the rest of the staff have had in recent years. Florida State swimming and diving is truly a family and we are excited to be bringing ours to Tallahassee. Go Noles!”

2017 ACC Diving Coach of the Year Four ACC Champions Seven All-America honors John Proctor enters his fifth season as the head diving coach at Florida State having the highest honor any coach could merit on his resume – coaching an athlete in the Olympic Games. Proctor, arrived in Tallahassee for the 2014-15 season from Midland, Texas inheriting a talented crop of divers that included Katrina Young. He helped Young to an All-American honor on 1-meter on top of an ACC title. Young captured silver on platform before qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Following her collegiate career, Young remained under Proctor’s instruction working strictly on 10-meter events. At the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, Young sat in fourth place before jumping to second in the final round in order to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio, becoming the fourth FSU diver to compete in the games. In 2018, Proctor’s divers collected five medals at the ACC Championships including one gold from senior Blaire Mulka, who won women’s 1-meter. Sophomore Molly Carlson advanced to the NCAA Championships where she earned her second career All-America honorable mention, placing 15th on 3-meter after overcoming an injury to win ACC bronze. Freshman Joshua Davidson won silver on 3-meter and bronze on 1-meter before advancing to his first career NCAA’s on both springboards. Proctor was selected as the 2017 ACC Female Diving Coach of the Year after coaching Carlson to the 2017 ACC Female Diver of the Year. Carlson capped off her historical rookie season with a 13th place finish on platform at the NCAA Championships after being named the 2017 ACC Diving Meet MVP where she won gold on platform and bronze on 1-meter. In addition to Carlson, freshman Ayla Bonniwell captured the ACC title on 1-meter and moved on to win All-America honorable mention on 1-meter at NCAA’s behind a 16th place finish. Carlson and Bonniwell led the women’s squad to 193 total points at the ACC Championships, scoring the highest total of any team at the meet. Senior Dylan Grisell also left his mark in FSU history by becoming the first diver to capture back-to-back All-America honors on platform and just the seventh to accomplish the feat on any board dating back to 1958 when he placed ninth on platform at 389.00. During 2015-16, Proctor coached Grisell to a seventh place finish on platform at the 2016 NCAA Championships, becoming the first All-American in the event in school history. He also coached rookie Cassidy Gebhart to an NCAA bid after she placed fifth on platform at the ACC Championships. In his first season in a different element, Proctor felt right at home as a collegiate coach. He led three divers to the NCAA Championships, in addition to Young, he also helped freshman Tyler Roberge capture an honorable mention on 1-meter. At the ACC Championships, Proctor helped the men’s team score 113 points in three events, led by Roberge and Grisell who dove in two championship final heats each. Young grabbed silver on platform at ACC’s and secured a pair of ACC Diver of the Week accolades during the season. Proctor joined the Seminole staff after serving as the Program Director and Head Diving Coach of City of Midland (COM) Aquatics in Midland, Texas for 15 years (1999-2014). He built a nationally-known program where he has produced over 50 junior national individual champions including four USA Junior All-Starts and has also coached a finalist in every USA Diving National Meet since 2009. In 2011, COM Aquatics was named a USA Diving Center of Excellence. Since 2008, Proctor has occupied the volunteering position of Coaching Representative on the Board of Directors at USA Diving after previously collaborating on the Committee for Competitive Excellence in 2004. In 2012, he was invited to join the USA Diving staff at the FINA Grand Prix in Rostock, Germany. While at the helm of COM Aquatics, Proctor oversaw the development of 225 athletes ranging from beginners to elite level divers in addition to heading the growth of five assistant coaches. Proctor has also been the heart of fundraising for the club, generating over three-million dollars in athletic scholarship money since 1999 while directing the Dive Parent Booster Club. During his 15 years in Midland, Proctor has volunteered for other duties that included both Junior (2000-2005) and Senior (2006-2008) Diving Representative roles for the Northwest Texas Diving Association. Prior to 1999, Proctor was the head coach of the Tucson Diving Team while serving as the diving team manager for the University of Arizona (1997-1999). He previously was the Head Diving Coach at Ballard High School in Louisville, Ky. (1995-1996) after starting his coaching career as an age group instructor at Auburn Diving Club (1992-1993).