Hite named Badger swimming and diving coach
May 09, 2011 | Women's Swimming & Diving
May 9, 2011
MADISON, Wis. – Whitney L. Hite has been hired as Wisconsin’s men’s and women’s head swimming and diving coach, Wisconsin Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez announced Monday.
"It's with great honor and pleasure that we will name Whitney Hite as our new swimming and diving coach," Alvarez said. "I was very pleased with the hire and I am very confident that Whitney will do an excellent job with our programs.
"One of the things that stood out to me, besides his background as a swimmer and working his way through the ranks as an assistant coach, was where he took a program at Washington, which did not have very good facilities, and took them to a place where both men and women's teams were ranked nationally. He has an excellent plan to bring to Wisconsin. His values and the things that he believed in were the right fit here."
Hite joins the Badgers after spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Arizona, where he was responsible for training the middle-distance and distance swimmers. The men’s and women’s teams each earned top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships in Hite’s two seasons. The men’s team took third place at the NCAA Championships in 2010 before earning a fourth-place finish this past season. The women’s team earned a fifth-place finish in 2011, a year after taking fourth place.
“I am thrilled and honored to be the head swimming and diving coach of the University of Wisconsin,” Hite said. “I’d like to thank Coach Alvarez, who has built one of the best athletic departments in the country. I am excited to build on the past success of Wisconsin swimming and diving and look forward to continuing to build a program everyone can be proud of.”
Prior to his time with the Wildcats, Hite served as the University of Washington men’s and women’s head coach from 2006-09. During his tenure in Seattle, Hite led the Huskie women to their best-ever NCAA finish, 12th in 2008. On the men’s side, they earned a top-16 finish in 2009, the best finish for the team in the last 30 years. While at Washington, Hite coached 18 All-Americans and four Pac-10 Champions.
Before becoming the head coach at Washington, Hite was the women’s assistant coach at California from 2004-06. At Berkeley, Hite helped the Golden Bears to three top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, sixth in 2004, eighth in 2005 and fourth in 2006. While working under head coach Teri McKeever, Hite coached the mid-distance and distance program that included three U.S. National Team members.
Hite also served as an assistant coach with the University of Georgia for five seasons from 1998-2003. With the Bulldogs, Hite helped Georgia’s women’s team capture three straight national championships from 1999-2001. In 2002 and 2003, Georgia finished as NCAA runner-up.
A Denver, Colo., native, Hite was a four-year swimmer on the University of Texas men’s swimming team. He swam sprint freestyle for the Longhorns and graduated with a B.S. in sports management in the spring of 1997. He earned his master's degree in education from Georgia in 2001. Whitney and his wife, Helen, were married this past September.
