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Hite unveils coaching staff

Four assistants round out Hite's first staff at UW

 


MADISON, Wis. - First-year swimming and diving coach Whitney Hite has hired four assistants to complete his coaching staff. Carrie Nixon, Shane Whildin, Dan Schemmel and Evan Bernier have been chosen to help Hite guide the Badger program.
 
"Overall, the energy of the staff is going to be terrific," Hite said. "It's a younger staff that will be able to relate to high school and college-aged kids."
 
Nixon returns for her fourth season as an assistant on the UW staff. She has worked with the Badgers' sprinters and middle-distance swimmers and has headed up the team's domestic women's recruiting efforts.
 
Prior to her time at Wisconsin, Nixon was the head coach of the women's swimming and diving team at her alma mater, Notre Dame, from 2005-08.
 
"It's invaluable to have someone that has been a head coach to be a part of your staff," Hite said. "She's a great recruiter and does a great job with the women and the men. She's incredibly important to have on our staff and has done it all, not just as an athlete, but also as a head coach. She loves Madison, loves the University of Wisconsin and is really happy here."
 
Whildin joins UW after spending the previous six seasons as Stanford's assistant women's coach. During his tenure, the Cardinal have never finished lower than fifth at the national championships. The 2009-10 team was the national runner-up, finishing a mere 2.5 points behind Florida after a third place national finish in 2008.
 
"The energy that he brings and his experience working with elite athletes is going to be vital," Hite said. "We're really excited about what he can bring. He's super organized, is a great recruiter and has a great amount of energy."
 
Two of the greatest swimmers in Stanford swimming, Olympic medalists Julia Smit and Elaine Breeden, were coached by Whildin. Both Academic All-Americans as well, Smit and Breeden won multiple NCAA individual titles as well as the team's first Pac-10 title since 2001, in 2010.
 
A 2003 graduate of Missouri with a degree in communications and business, Whildin was a four-year member of the men's swimming and diving team, serving as a team captain in his junior season and twice receiving the Missouri Team Leadership Award. Whildin's best 100 butterfly time ranked among the school's top-five at the time he recorded the mark. He was also a two-time qualifier for the Olympic Trials.
 
Whildin and his wife, Jenny, welcomed their first child in the summer of 2009.
 
Schemmel comes to the Badgers after spending last season with his alma mater, Michigan State. Prior to that, he was a three-year volunteer assistant at the University of Arizona.
 
"Dan is really a student of the sport," Hite said. "He loves swimming and is a great recruiter. He really enjoys that aspect of scouring the times and finding the kids. Dan's going to be a great addition."
 
While with the Wildcats, Schemmel had the opportunity to work with 28 All-Americans, 12 Olympians from seven different countries and eight American record holders. In 2009 with his aide, UA saw the women post a third-place finish and the men place sixth at the NCAA Championships. In 2010, Arizona's men's team finished third, while the women ended the championships in fourth.
 
Schemmel graduated from Michigan State in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He received his master's degree in educational psychology from the Arizona in 2010.

The former Spartan swimmer first arrived at MSU in 2004 when he served as a team manager for the swimming and diving team during his freshman year. His sophomore and junior seasons saw him compete in the freestyle events at several competitions. His senior year saw him serve as a student assistant coach.

Bernier spent one season as an assistant coach at Seattle University before accepting a position on Hite's staff. At the 2011 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships, 14 school records were broken as the men's team took third place and the women finished eighth.

Collegiately, Bernier spent two seasons at the University of Minnesota before transferring to the University of Washington. While with the Huskies, Bernier was voted Pac-10 swimmer of the month in his junior year while Hite served as a head coach. During his senior year, Bernier was the captain of the swimming team. While at Washington, Bernier broke 11 different school records and led the team to a 16th place finish at the NCCAs, the school's best finish in over 30 years.

"Evan is one of the best collegiate swimmers I've ever seen," Hite said. "He's relatively new to the coaching aspect, but he's like a sponge and he wants to learn. It helps that he already understands what it takes to be an elite athlete."

After graduating with a degree in Business Administration, Bernier volunteered as a coach with Washington until the program was cut.

 

 

 

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