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Jeff PoppellJeff Poppell
Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Jeff Poppell was named the new head men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach at South Carolina on Friday, April 9, 2021. He’s the ninth head coach all-time for the men’s program and eighth for the women’s team.

Poppell comes to the Gamecocks from the University of Florida, where he was the head women’s swimming and diving coach during the last three seasons.

“I am excited to welcome Jeff and his family to the University of South Carolina and our athletics program,” said Athletics Director Ray Tanner. “Jeff brings an outstanding coaching resume and a coaching philosophy that will greatly benefit our student-athletes. He knows what it takes to move our swimming and diving program to a championship level.”

“I’m both honored and thrilled to have been named the new Head Swimming & Diving Coach at South Carolina,” said Poppell. “On my visit earlier this week, I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the campus, the highly ranked academic programs offered, as well as the strong commitment made by the Gamecock Athletic Administration to help build and sustain a championship caliber program at the University of South Carolina. We have a lot of work ahead of us in the future however I can’t wait to get to Columbia, meet the teams, and begin this exciting new journey.”

The Jacksonville, Fla. native, has been coaching for 27 seasons, including 13 seasons in the Southeastern Conference. He was the head women’s swimming and diving coach at Arkansas from 2006-12 as well as an associate head coach of the combined men’s and women’s program at Florida from 2016-18 and the women’s head coach from 2018-21.

The Gators finished second in the SEC Championships in all three seasons of Poppell’s tenure at Florida and had an overall dual meet record of 18-3. Prior to Poppell’s tenure as head women’s coach, the Gators finished 7th two years in a row (2017-18) at the conference meet.

This season, with only nine returning swimmers from last year’s squad, the Gators finished the SEC Championships with four individual medals, including Ashley McCool’s first-place finish on the 1-meter springboard. She was also named SEC Diver of the Meet.

The Gators would go on to finish 17th at the 2021 NCAA Championships, the highest finish for the program since 2015. Florida had the most NCAA qualifiers of any team in the nation this season.

At Poppell’s second SEC Championship in 2020, the Gators would reel in seven medals (six individual and one relay) and set 28 new personal-best swims and six new top 10 program swims over the five-day competition, falling short of first-place by just 28.5 points. For their effort at the conference meet, nine Gators (seven second team and two all-freshman) would earn all-SEC honors.

Due to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships, all 13 Florida invitees to the national meet earned College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) All-America honors. Florida’s honorees totaled 36 overall distinctions, led by Sherridon Dressel and Vanessa Pearl with three individual honors each. Taylor Ault, Leah Braswell, Kelly Fertel and Ashley McCool also earned multiple individual accolades. Bella Garofalo tied for a team-best four relay accolades with Dressel, appearing on UF’s 200 free, 400 free, 200 medley and 400 medley relays that earned All-American recognition after meeting the time standard set by the NCAA this season.

Poppell’s second regular season campaign was a special one, concluding 2019-20 with the program’s best regular season dual finish (8-1) since the 2007-08 season when the Gators posted an identical record. The team got off to one of the greatest starts by a Gator squad, beginning the season by winning their first eight duals, which marked the first time this decade reaching this feat.

In total, Florida had 22 swimmers and divers who would go on to win 171 events throughout the season, led by Dressel’s 27-win campaign. Freshman Talia Bates would make her presence felt immediately, producing the second-most event wins on the squad, producing nine individual wins as well as being a member of 10 winning relays.

Oct. 23, 2019 was a historic day for the Gators as they were voted the No. 1 team in the CSCAA Top 25 Poll after posting a 5-0 start, the first time the UF women’s program had been the top-ranked team since the 2010 National Championship squad.

Poppell instills in his team the importance of success in both the pool and in the classroom. During his time at Florida, the Gators would post a trio of new academic records, capped off by an NCAA Division I-leading 24 CSCAA Scholar All-America honors. The team would also set program records by placing 27 swimmers and divers on the SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll, as well as combining for a team GPA of 3.80 during the 2020 Spring semester. Six Gators would land on the conference’s First-Year Academic Honor Roll to cap off academic awards in Poppell’s second season.

During his first year as the women’s head coach in 2018-19, the Gators registered a 24th-place finish at the NCAA Championships to go along with the runner-up bid at SEC’s. His team ended the 2018-19 campaign with 31 top times on the all-time program swim list. Women’s swimmers and divers earned eight All-American honors, seven All-SEC accolades and two SEC All-Freshman nods. The Gators excelled outside of the water, tallying a team GPA of 3.54 and landing 17 on the CSCAA Scholar All-America team, 23 on the SEC Academic Honor Roll and eight on the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.

The Gators finished the regular season ranked eighth-nationally with an overall record of 10-2, including a conference mark of 4-2. Poppell’s team showed up and performed at the SEC Championships, registering 13 top-ten program fastest times, highlighted by Pearl posting the fastest 200 IM and 200 breast time in Gator history. In total, seven Gators earned All-SEC accolades for their performance at the conference tournament.

Poppell sent 13 swimmers and one diver to the 2019 NCAA Championships at the University of Texas. Here, the Gators finished in 24th-place with 44 total points and received six All-American honors. Poppell led the charge on the improvement from the previous year, where the Gators finished 35th overall at NCAAs. The orange and blue earned spots in the A-finals at the national meet for the first time since 2016.

Poppell was hired as the head coach of Florida women’s swimming and diving team before the 2017-18 season.

In the 2017-18 campaign, Poppell coached Caeleb Dressel to his seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth National Championships in the 50 free, 100 free, 100 fly, and 200 free relay. Dressel set a new American, NCAA, US Open and UF record in the 100 free with a mark of 39.90 which surpassed the mark of 40.00 he set in the previous year. Dressel was named the SEC Swimmer of the Year and the CSCAA Swimmer of the Year, both for the third straight season. Under Poppell’s guidance, the Gators totaled 33 All-American honors from 11 different athletes. Under the tutelage of Poppell, Florida collected 10 First-Team All-SEC accolades as well as two second-team nods. Poppell helped Sherridon Dressel and Brooke Madden to achieve All-American Honorable Mention accolades.

In the 2016-17 season, Poppell helped coach Dressel to his fourth, fifth and sixth National Championships in the 50 Free, 100 Free and 100 Butterfly. His mark of 40.00 set UF, NCAA, American and U.S. Open records. Dressel took home his second-straight Co-CSCAA Male Swimmer of the Year award as well. Along with Dressel, Mark Szaranek won the 200 IM National Championship, the first of his career. Newcomer Maxime Rooney became Poppell’s first SEC Male Freshman of the Year after his performance in the pool. A total of eight athletes took home 31 All-American honors. Poppell coached 11 of the women’s swimmers and two divers into qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Seven of those 13 were making their NCAA debut and 11 of the 13 will return for competition this coming season. Under his direction, Autumn Finke was named All-SEC Second Team and Emma Ball earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team.

Through four seasons at Gulliver Preparatory School and Gulliver Swim Club from 2012-16, Poppell’s challenge was to build winning programs from the ground level up. He quickly helped launch the program to an elite status after several swimmers established themselves as top national talents, including Jana Mangimelli, who placed 5th in the 200-Meter IM at the 2013 United States World Championship Trials and US National Championships, clocking a time that ranked her among the Top-25 in the world.

In 2014 and 2015, he led Gulliver Preparatory to consecutive 2A FHSAA High School State Swimming Championship titles in girls swimming after winning the school’s first-ever state championship in swimming in 2014. In 2015-2016, Poppell guided Gulliver Swim Club to its first-ever Silver Medal Award, which recognizes the Top-100 swimming clubs in the United States.

During his six years as the Head Swimming Coach of the University of Arkansas from 2006-12, he guided the program to its best performances in school history, which included a top-five finish at the SEC Championships and a No. 17 national ranking in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America national polls. The Razorbacks swimming and diving program began Poppell’s second season ranked in the Top-25 national poll and was ranked for five consecutive years.

Poppell coached 16 athletes who individually qualified for the NCAA Championships and helped ten of these women earn NCAA All-American honors. One of his swimmers, Yi-Ting Siow, a three-time Olympian, became the first Razorback swimmer to win back-to-back SEC titles, claiming the SEC championship title in the 200 breaststroke in 2009 and 2010. Siow’s fourth place finish in the 200 breaststroke at the 2009 and 2010 NCAA Championships represented the highest NCAA Championship finish for a swimmer in Razorback history. Her time of 2:07.73 was just seven-hundredths of a second behind the SEC record held by 1999 NCAA champion and 2000 Olympic silver medalist Kristy Kowal of Georgia.

During the 2010-2011 season, Chelsea Franklin finished seventh in the 1650 freestyle at the women’s NCAA Championships, earning All-American honors for the first time with a time of 15:59.05, which still stands as the Arkansas school record in the event. The 2009 NCAA Championships were highlighted by five different Razorback swimmers qualifying individually for the meet with four of the swimmers earning NCAA All-American status by finishing in the top 16: Yi-Ting Siow and Leah Pierce in the 200 Breaststroke, Katie Kastes in the 400 Individual Medley and 200 Butterfly and Stephanie Carr in the 1650 Freestyle. The 2008 NCAA Championships featured freshman Katie Kastes’ 9th place finish in the 200 Butterfly with the 6th fastest time recorded in the meet.

Coach Poppell had 10 swimmers qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. In 2009, Poppell served as the Head Women’s Coach for Team USA at the World Maccabiah Games in Israel. He was also a USA Swimming National Team coach from 2005-08, during which, he coached three swimmers who competed at the 2009 FINA World Swimming Championships in Rome, and two who competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He guided two of his swimmers to three gold medals, one silver, two bronze, and three meet records at the Southeast Asian Games.

Prior to the University of Arkansas, Poppell spent 13 years with the Bolles School and Bolles Sharks in Jacksonville, Florida, one of the country’s most prominent high school and club swimming programs. At the 2006 Spring U.S. National Championships, he led the Bolles Sharks to a Top-5 team finish where the Bolles men’s 4×200 freestyle relay team won the U.S. National title and Omar Pinzon became the U.S. National Champion in the men’s 200 backstroke.

As a student-athlete at University of Georgia, Poppell was a four-year letter winner and team captain for the Georgia Bulldogs’ swimming team. He qualified for the NCAA Championships twice and was an Honorable Mention All-SEC and academic All-SEC honoree. He earned one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals while competing for the United States at the 1993 Maccabiah Games in Israel. To this day, the Bulldog program remembers his contributions to the team with the annual presentation of the Jeff Poppell Award for Leadership.

A 1993 graduate of the University of Georgia, Coach Poppell and his wife, Joanna, have two children, Jack and Jenna.

THE JEFF POPPELL FILE

PERSONAL

  • Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla.
  • Education: Bachelor’s in Business Administration, University of Georgia, 1993
  • Wife: Joanna
  • Children: son Jack and daughter Jenna

COACHING CAREER

  • 2018-21: Florida (Women’s Head Coach)
  • 2016-18: Florida (Associate Head Coach)
  • 2017: Team USA (Assistant Coach – World University Games)
  • 2012-16: Gulliver Preparatory School and Gulliver Swim Club (Head Coach)
  • 2006-12: Arkansas (Women’s Head Coach)
  • 2009: Team USA (Head Coach – World Maccabiah Games)
  • 2002-06: The Bolles School/Bolles Sharks
  • 1993-2002: The Bolles School/Bolles Sharks

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

  • In three seasons as the Gators’ women’s head coach, the program had a dual meet record of 18-3
  • His Gator teams registered second place finishes in three straight seasons at the SEC Championships; during the last 10 years, only Florida, Texas A&M and Georgia have placed in the top two in consecutive years at the conference meet
  • Finished his second season in 2019-20 with the best dual meet record (8-1) at UF since 2007-08
  • His 2019-20 team broke three program records in the classroom during the school year: Scholar All-Americans (24), SEC Academic Honor Roll (27) and Team GPA (3.80)
  • During his two seasons as an Associate Head Coach at Florida, UF athletes won nine individual national titles, 19 SEC titles and garnered 67 All-American honors
  • Led the Gators to a No. 1 ranking in the CSCAA Top 25 Poll on Oct. 23, 2019 after 5-0 start to season
  • Coached three Olympians while at Florida
  • Named assistant head coach of the men for Team USA at the World University Games in 2017
  • Par of two SEC Championships at UF (Men’s: 2017, 2018)
  • Coached Gulliver Swim Club to its first-ever Silver Medal Award
  • At Gulliver, he coached four U.S. Olympic Trial qualifiers, three finalists at the U.S. Summer Junior National Championships, and 10 swimmers who were ranked among the top 25 nationally in their respective age groups
  • Three-time Florida Dairy Farmers Florida High School Coach of the Year (2004, 2014, 2015)
  • Two-time Miami Herald All-Dade Coach of the Year (2014, 2015)
  • Coached Shaune Fraser to a NHSCA National High School Boys Swimmer of the Year award while at The Bolles School
  • 2005 NFHS Florida High School Coach of the Year
  • 2004 NHSCA National High School Coach of the Year
  • Tutored 16 women to the NCAA Championships while head coach at Arkansas
  • Arkansas women’s program had the fourth highest GPA in all of collegiate swimming in 2008 and the program ranked among the top-10 nationally in GPA for four straight years

Michael WrightMichael Wright
Head Diving Coach

Michael Wright was named the head diving coach of South Carolina on Monday, October 10, 2022.

“We’re very excited to welcome Mike to our coaching staff and have no doubt that he will bring an energy and passion that will help us build upon the great diving tradition that has existed at South Carolina,” said head swimming & diving coach Jeff Poppell. “He’s been an instrumental part of the success of Tennessee’s diving program over the last nine years. In addition, as the head club coach in Knoxville, he has consistently developed some of the top young diving talents in the nation.”

Prior to South Carolina, Wright served two stints as a volunteer coach at his alma mater, the University of Tennessee. Additionally, he served as the head coach of the Tennessee Aquatics diving club since 2014, coaching athletes to the USA Junior National Team and to a combined nine USA National Titles. His efforts earned him the opportunity to coach the Junior Pan American Team, which featured divers winning two gold medals as well as a silver and bronze medal during the 2017 and 2019 games.

As an athlete, Wright was an SEC champion and All-America performer at the University of Tennessee (2009-11) and became the first African-American to ever win a title at the USA Diving Winter National Championships in 2010.

Prior to competing for Tennessee, Wright helped Indian River State College to back-to-back NJCAA Championships by sweeping the one- and three-meter events in 2007 and 2008. He was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 2015.

Truly a gifted athlete, Wright has become well-known outside of the diving world as the “Speedo Ninja” on American Ninja Warrior, competing in five of the seasons. He advanced to the National Vegas Finals during season 10.

Wright earned his bachelor’s degree from Tennessee in fine arts in 2011 and then completed his master’s degree in sports psychology in 2013. He and his wife, Hali, have three children: Kylee, Camden and Kobie.

Jason CalanogJason Calanog
Men's Associate Head Coach

South Carolina swimming & diving head coach Jeff Poppell announced the hiring of Jason Calanog to his staff as the men’s associate head swimming coach on June 13, 2024. Calanog previously spent nine years at Texas A&M where he served in the same role and helped lead A&M’s men to eight top-25 finishes at the NCAA Championships, including a top-10 team finish in 2021.

“I am truly excited that Jason has decided to join us at the University of South Carolina, and I have the utmost respect and confidence in his ability to help our men’s team climb the national collegiate rankings,” said Poppell. “I’ve known Jason for quite some time now and have always admired the passion and energy that he brings to the pool deck. His success on both the NCAA and world stages speaks for itself as he has developed some of the top athletes in our sport from NCAA Champions to World Championship medalists. We look forward to welcoming him, his wife Tracey, and their two boys to Columbia!”

In 2018 and 2020, Calanog played an instrumental role in the Aggies’ runner-up team finish at the SEC Championships, their best in school history. Also serving as the director of men’s recruiting, Calanog landed top-10 recruiting classes in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Under Calanog’s leadership in 2023 and 2024, Baylor Nelson led the Aggies, earning the SEC Commissioner’s Trophy in consecutive years as the top point scorer at the SEC Championships. Nelson became just the second swimmer in program history to earn the award following in the footsteps of Shaine Casas who also won the award consecutively in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Casas was named the SEC and NCAA Male Swimmer of the Year in 2021, the only Aggie swimmer to win the awards, after winning three NCAA individual titles in the 100 back, 200 back, and 200 individual medley events.

Calanog’s athletes have competed in Olympic finals and several have won medals in major international competitions, including gold, silver, and bronze medals at the FINA World Championships and the Pan American Games.

Prior to his time in College Station, Calanog served as the senior assistant swimming coach with The Bolles School and Bolles Sharks in Jacksonville, Fla. (2007-15) There he served as the primary coach for the World Junior Champion, Junior World Record Holder, and Swimming World Male High School Swimmer of the Year Caeleb Dressel.

Calanog served as volunteer assistant coach for then-head coach Sergio Lopez and the West Virginia Mountaineers (2006-07) and helped the Mountaineer men’s team to the 2007 Big East team title.

Calanog, who is married to the former Tracey Mascola, earned his bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies with a concentration in business administration, communications and economics from West Virginia in 2007.

Robert PinterRobert Pinter
Men's Assistant Coach

Robert Pinter was officially named an assistant coach for South Carolina swimming and diving on April 27, 2021. He was the first hire on new head coach Jeff Poppell’s staff for the Gamecocks.

“I am extremely excited to have Robert join our staff at South Carolina,” said Poppell. “He has developed some of the country’s top club talent in addition to having the opportunity to work with World Swimmer of the Year Caeleb Dressel and 12-time Olympic Medalist Ryan Lochte while coaching alongside former Florida Head Coach and 2012 US Olympic Coach Gregg Troy. It’s not difficult to see the positive impact that he will have on our program in the years to come.”

Pinter brings 23 years of coaching experience at both the college and club level to his new role at South Carolina. His previous college coaching stints include assistant coach positions at the University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Georgia Tech.

Most recently, since 2016 Pinter has served as the head coach of Gator Swim Club. The club, based in Gainesville, Fla., has been a USA Swimming Gold Medal Club, which has developed many of the nation’s top club swimmers including 2017 US National Champion and USA Swimming National Team member Isabel Ivey, as well as USA Swimming National Junior Team members Caitlin Brooks and Julian Hill.

He also worked alongside former University of Florida Head Swimming Coach and 2012 Head US Olympic Coach Gregg Troy in coaching Gator Swim Club Elite, a group of professional and postgraduate swimmers that include World Swimmer of the Year Caeleb Dressel, who won seven gold medals at the 2019 World Championships and holds world records in the 100 meter butterfly in long course meters and the 50 freestyle, 100 fly and 100 IM in short course meters. Other swimmers in this group include 200 IM World Record Holder and 12-time Olympic Medalist Ryan Lochte, 2021 South American Champion in the 50 Freestyle Enzo Martinez-Scarpe, and former Gamecock All-Americans Tom Peribonio and Nils Wich-Glasen.

Prior to his arrival in Gainesville, Pinter was the head coach of the Iowa Flyers where he coached Ruby Martin to a fourth place finish at the 2016 US Olympic Trials in the 200 meter butterfly. He also developed USA Swimming National Junior Team Member Mark McGlaughlin.

Pinter earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he was a four-year member of the varsity men’s swim team for the Badgers. He placed seventh in the 200 meter butterfly at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and was a European Junior Champion while representing his home country of Romania.

Nils Wich-GlasenNils Wich-Glasen
Men's Assistant Coach & Men's Recruiting Coordinator

South Carolina head swimming and diving coach Jeff Poppell announced Gamecock All-American Nils Wich-Glasen as assistant men’s swimming coach on July 30, 2024. The five-time All-American dominated the breaststroke for the Gamecocks from 2015-18 and is still the program’s 200 yard record holder.

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Nils to our staff,” Poppell said. “He returns to South Carolina after a great career in the pool and successful coaching seasons in the New England area. He will not only bring some great experience to our program but an unrelenting drive and passion to help put our Gamecock men back on the national map.”

Wich-Glasen continued to train and compete in the pool through 2023, while also learning the ropes of coaching at the same time. His coaching career began as a lead clinician in the Fitter and Faster Swim Camps where he collaborated with Olympians, Olympic coaches and renowned swimming professionals. He went on to achieve a top three ranking among all clinicians.

In 2023, Wich-Glasen turned to coaching full-time at both the club and college levels, joining the staffs at Gator Swim Club Seekonk and Bryant University. With the club team, he was the lead coach of the Titanium Group, which is the highest level skill group and designed for success at the national level. Wich-Glasen was involved in all aspects of the group’s training – developing a structured in-water approach, designing a periodized approach in the weight room and utilizing video analysis software to further improve and fine-tune technique. In his first season at the club, he helped the team to its highest finish at the New England Senior Championships and developed multiple top-100 swimmers in their age group.

At Bryant, Wich-Glasen developed periodization training and led breaststroke-specific practices for the men’s and women’s teams in 2023-24. The Bulldogs’ breaststroke group turned in one of their best finishes in the America East Conference meet with seven A-Final and two B-Final swims, contributing to one of Bryant’s highest team finishes since joining the conference.

Wich-Glasen’s Gamecock swimming career included at least one All-America recognition in each of his four seasons (2018 – 200 breast; 2017 – 100 and 200 breast; 2016 – 100 breast; 2015 – 200 breast) as well as three All-SEC Second-Team nods (2015, 2016, 2018). His SEC Championship career featured three silver and two bronze medals across the two breaststroke events. Graduating from the University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in international business, he was a four-time CSCAA Scholar All-American and made four appearances on the SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll. He capped his career as the Athletics Department’s 2017-18 Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

“I am incredibly honored and excited to return to South Carolina as part of the coaching staff, exactly 10 years after joining as a student-athlete,” Wich-Glasen said. “This program has always held a special place in my heart, and I am eager to contribute to the continued success of our student-athletes. I look forward to working with Coach Poppell and the rest of the team to help Gamecock Swimming become better than it has ever been.”

Andy EatonAndy Eaton
Women's Assistant Coach

Andy Eaton was named volunteer assistant coach in August of 2021 and was promoted to assistant coach in May of 2022.

Since joining the team, he has helped improve the team’s finish at the SEC Championship and NCAA Championships every year. In just three years, the number of NCAA qualifiers jumped from two to eight and the SEC Championship place improved from 11th to seventh. In 2024, the team celebrated another step forward with two women scoring in finals at the NCAA Championships. During his time at South Carolina, Eaton has coached multiple top eight SEC finishers and swimmers with great success internationally, including athletes competing at the Olympics and Asian Games.

Eaton is passionate about developing athletes, helping them to become better swimmers and to grow as individuals. With a diverse background in coaching, psychology, biology, statistical analysis, and performance strategy, Eaton brings a fresh perspective to coaching. Always eager to learn and apply enhanced methods, he studies the training methods of top athletes and is constantly innovating.

From August 2019-July 2021, Eaton was assistant coach for Franklin & Marshall College. During his tenure, F&M had two of its best seasons in team history. The men won conference for the first time in a decade, the women and men broke nearly every team record, and the team set its record for All-Americans. Two F&M athletes competed at the 2020 Olympic Trials.

In 2019, Eaton volunteer coached with Emory University, during which the women won DIII Nationals and the men placed second. He primarily coached the sprint group, which included swimmers with times that would qualify for DI Nationals.

Before coaching collegiately, Eaton was one of the head coaches of Chattahoochee Gold Swim Club in Georgia. He coached athletes ranked in the age group national top 10 and swimmers that went on to compete for elite DI universities.

Prior to coaching, Eaton was successful as a business consultant for Accenture, one of the top consulting companies in the world. Promoted to manager, Eaton helped some of the largest businesses in the world implement organizational changes to become more successful. His work took him to Japan, Spain, and all over the United States. He considers the skills and work ethic learned during that time as essential to his swim coaching.

Eaton graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Kenyon College. At Kenyon, he was team captain, 24-time DIII All-American, and 4-time DIII team national champion.

Eaton and his wife Danice reside in Columbia, SC. Their son Thomas attends the University of South Carolina as a graduate student and swims for the Gamecocks. Their daughter Kate attends Emory University and swims for their team.

Kelly FertelKelly Fertel
Women's Assistant Coach & Women's Recruiting Coordinator

Kelly Fertel joined Poppell’s staff in May of 2022. Fertel, a native of Miami, Florida, comes to Columbia from the University of Florida where she was a stand-out student-athlete.

Fertel was a team captain, three-time NCAA All-American, and CSCAA Scholar All-American while representing the Florida Gators. She finished her career ranked fourth all-time in University of Florida history in both the 200 IM (1:55.46) and 400 IM (4:05.32). At the 2019 Phillips 66 National Championships, she captured a bronze medal as a member of the Gators 4×200 Free Relay, won the B-Final of the 200m IM with a 2:13.27, and placed 7th overall in the 400m IM with a time of 4:41.53. Internationally, Fertel represented Team USA at the 2017 Maccabiah Games in Israel bringing home a total of seven medals; five gold and 2 silver.

After the completion of her freshman year at Florida, Fertel was awarded the Tracy Caulkins Award given to the female freshman, based upon her performance at SEC’s and NCAAs, that exemplifies the competitive spirit of Tracy Caulkins, demonstrating dedication, tenacity and a great will to win. She was also twice awarded the Giovanni Linscheer Award, an honor given annually to the female student-athlete who contributed the most to the overall success of the Florida Swimming and Diving team. Fertel also served as Chair of the UF Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Fertel spent one season competing for the Cali Condors in the International Swimming League (ISL) in Budapest, Hungary and graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications. Most recently, she has been pursuing a Master’s Degree in Health Education and Behavior at UF while serving as an Assistant Swimming Coach for Swim America Gainesville. Fertel has worked as a Radio Reporter for WUFT News in Gainesville and served as a Public Relations Volunteer and Production and Broadcasting Intern for the SEC Nation and the CMT Network.

“I’m extremely excited to have Kelly join our staff at South Carolina,” said Poppell. “As an All-American at Florida, she experienced success at the highest levels of both the SEC and NCAA and was a major factor in the Florida women’s team rise from the bottom half of the Southeastern Conference to three consecutive SEC Runner-Up finishes and a #1 National Dual Meet Ranking in 2019. As anyone that knows Kelly will tell you, she has a big personality with a lot of positive energy that I think will serve our team well. I see Kelly embracing the opportunity of being a relatable resource for both the men and women in our program as they seek to successfully navigate and balance the high achieving demands of today’s college student-athlete.”

Grace DavieGrace Davie
Assistant Diving Coach

Grace Davie joined the team as an assistant diving coach in September of 2023. She is a two-time graduate of the University of South Carolina and is currently perusing a doctorate of philosophy in sport and entertainment management with a research focus on athlete identity and transition.

Davie is an alum of the program, having been on the team from 2012-14 but never competed due to injuries. Prior to her medcal retirement, Davie lettered for two years at Southlake Carroll High School where she earned All-America honors in 2011 and 2012.

Davie began her coaching career with the GC Divers club in 2010 and has been the head club coach at the South Carolina Dive Club since 2022.