Whitney Hite enters his seventh season as the associate head coach for the women’s swimming and diving program in 2024-25. Hite has compiled 26 years of collegiate coaching experience with some of the nation’s top swimming and diving programs.
Coaching Highlights:
- 2024 Paris Olympic Assistant Coach for Team USA
- USA Swimming National Team coach 2011-2016, 2018, 2022
- USA Swimming 2012 Short course World Championships men’s assistant coach
- USA Swimming 2015 World Championships men’s assistant coach
- USA Swimming 2017 World University Games men’s head coach
Hite’s Coaching Career:
At Florida:
In his sixth year working with the Gators, the women’s team set 13 school records, while recording 43 program top-10 times throughout the 2023-24 season. Hite helped guide the women to a third-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships with 364 points, marking Florida’s best finish in 14 years. The 800 Free Relay team of Bella Sims, Isabel Ivey, Emma Weyant and Micayla Cronk won the program’s first National Title in the event since 1989 after swimming 6:48.59 to set a new program record. 12 Gators earned 35 CSCAA All-American Honors (30 First-Team and 5 Second-Team), with 12 individuals scoring at least one team point. At the 2024 SEC Championships, the women clinched their second-consecutive SEC Championship Title, 19th overall. It marks the first back-to-back championship title since 1996-97 after finishing a new program-best score of 1,391.5. In total, the women claimed 13 gold medals and eight silver medals. Freshman Bella Sims swept her three individual events, while also earning the Commissioner Trophy after scoring a meet-high 91 points. Florida posted an 8-1 record in dual meets, with the only loss coming from No. 1 and three-time NCAA Champion Virginia. Overall, nine Gator women were named to the All-SEC First Team, one named to the All-SEC Second Team and eight to the All-Freshman Team. Bella Sims became the first Gator women since Elizabeth Beisel in 2012 and fifth in program history to be named SEC Female Swimmer of the Year. Sims was also named Female Freshman Swimmer of the Year, becoming the first Gator to capture both titles in the same year as well as the first women in the conference to outright claim both honors in the same season.
During the 2022-23 season, the women’s team finished first at SEC Championships for the first time since 2009. Emma weyant won the 500 free title and the 800 Free Relay (Ekaterina Nikonova, Talia Bates, Emma Weyant, Micayla Cronk) finished first as well at SEC’s. Additionally, the 200 Medley Relay (Aris Runnels, Nina Kucheran, Olivia Peoples, Katie Mack - 1:34.76) and 400 Free Relay (Nikonova, Bates, Mack, Cronk - 3:10.83) set school records. At the 2023 NCAA Championships, Hite helped coach the women to a ninth-place finish with 179 points, which marked the highest finish since 2014-15. Overall, 11 women earned 28 All-American Honors and 11 earned a spot on an All-SEC Team. Zoe Dixon was named the SEC Female Freshman of the Year.
At the 2022 SEC Championships, the 400 free relay team of Talia Bates, Ekaterina Nikonova, Micayla Cronk, and Katie Mack set the fastest time in program history at 3:12.37, earning bronze as Florida finished fifth. At the NCAA Championships, The Gator women finished 13th at the 2022 NCAA Championships, the highest finish for the Florida women since the 2014-15 season. In total, Florida recorded 19 All-America honors and four Top-8 finishes. The 200 free relay (Ekaterina Nikonova, Talia Bates, Katie Mack and Micayla Cronk) and the 400 free relay (Ekaterina Nikonova, Talia Bates, Katie Mack and Micayla Cronk) each set a new school record time.
Florida posted a 4-1 record in dual meets in 2020-21, the only loss coming in the season opener against No. 4 Georgia. The Gators finished second at the 2021 SEC Championship under Hite’s coaching, winning four medals and helped Ashley McCool claim Diver of the Meet. In a 17th place finish at the 2021 NCAA Championships, Talia Bates recorded All-American honors in the 200 free.
Hite and UF’s group strung together an outstanding season in his second year working with the group. Under his coaching and guidance, Sherridon Dressel, Emma Ball, Bella Garofalo, Talia Bates and Gabby Hillis would earn a combined 20 All-American honors, led by Dressel’s career and team-high seven honors. Garofalo would earn five, which was tied for the second-most on the squad. Bates, Ball and Hillis would each notch their first All-American accolades of their careers. That same group would place 10 top-10 individual swims throughout the season, placing them as one of the best women sprint groups in recent memory for the Gators.
Six of those 10 times posted by Hite’s sprinters were at the 2020 Southeastern Conference Championships, where the Gators posted a runner-up bid for the second-straight season, the first time that has happened since 2011 and 2012. Three of Florida’s relays also combined for a top-10 Gator time, featuring at least three of Hite’s sprinters on each. Additionally, three Gators would each set three new career-best swims throughout the week in Auburn.
In her fourth and final conference meet in 2020, Dressel would post three new personal-best times, which all landed on the top-10 program list. She would go on to earn two medals- a silver in the 100 back and a bronze in the 100 fly- to help lead Florida throughout the week.
Individually, Hillis posted three new personal-bests at the SEC meet. With help of Hite, she cut drastic time off her top times at the conclusion of her sophomore season in 2018-19, improving by .46 seconds in the 50 free, 1.90 seconds in the 100 free and 1.40 seconds in the 200 free at the conclusion of this year’s SEC meet.
Garofalo was the third and final Gator to post a trio of top swims in Auburn, claiming the seventh-fastest 50 free time in UF history (22.28), as well as the ninth-best 100 free swim of 48.65. She would touch in 1:47.53 in the 200 free to post her third career-best in her final meet of her collegiate career.
Relay-wise, UF’s sprinters were an integral part of the success at SEC’s. The 200 medley relay, which included Ball, Dressel and Garofalo, earned an A-cut with their combined finish of 1:36.10. The group of sprinters also were members of the second-fastest 400 free relay, third-fastest 400 medley relay and the fourth-fastest 200 free relay in UF history.
Hite helped make Bates’ transition from high school to the collegiate ranks smooth, which was apparent with the Gainesville native’s 19-win freshman campaign, which ranked second on the team. For her success, she earned SEC Freshman of the Week accolades on Nov. 12 and Jan. 14. Heading into the postseason, Bates possessed the 12th-fastest 50 free swim, as well as the 19th-fastest 100 free effort in the conference.
The Gators ended 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, the 22 swimmers and divers would go on to win 171 events throughout the season, led by Dressel’s 27-win campaign. On Oct. 23, 2019, the Gators were voted the No. 1 team in the CSCAA Top 25 Poll after posting a 5-0 start, the first time the women’s program has been the top-ranked team since the 2010 National Championship team.
In his first season (2018-19), Hite worked closely with Dressel, Ball and Garofalo. The trio gathered three All-American nods, 22 individual victories and 35 relay wins throughout the season. His coaching and leadership helped the group post nine new personal top-times while also being instrumental in Dressel earning her second and third All-American honors. Garofalo received her first All-American honor of her career. Overall, the Gators put together the best season in recent years with a runner-up finish at the Southeastern Conference Championships and notching a 24th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. The Gators ended the 2018-19 campaign with 31 top times on the all-time program lists. Women’s swimmers and divers earned six All-American honors, seven All-SEC accolades and two SEC All-Freshman nods.
At Wisconsin:
Hite most recently spent seven years as the Head Men’s and Women’s Swimming Coach with the Wisconsin Badgers where he helped develop 25 Big 10 Champions and 103 All-Americans. Under his guidance, Drew TeDuits won an NCAA title in the 200 Back at the 2013 NCAA Championships while U.S. National Team Member Ivy Martin posted an NCAA Runner-up finish in the 50 Free at the 2015 NCAA Championships. In 2018, Beata Nelson finished 2nd in the 100 Back at the NCAA Championships recording the 3rd fastest time in history in the event. For his efforts at Wisconsin, Whitney was named the Head Men’s Coach for the U.S. at the 2017 World University Games, as well as an Assistant Men’s Coach for the U.S. at the 2015 World Championships.
At Arizona:
He served two years as an Assistant Coach with the University of Arizona where he helped the Wildcats to four Top 5 team finishes at the NCAA Championships.
At California-Berkley:
Hite spent three years as the Assistant Women’s Coach at the University of California-Berkeley assisting them to three Top 10 NCAA finishes.
At University of Washington:
Following his time at Georgia, Hite was the head coach at the University of Washington for three years, leading the women to the highest ranking in program history at 12, while coaching the men to 15th the year after. He served as the head coach during the final three seasons, 2006-2009, before the program was cut.
At Georgia:
Whitney began his coaching career in 1998 at the University of Georgia where he served as an Assistant Coach for five years and helped Georgia win three consecutive NCAA Women’s National Championship titles and two NCAA Runner-up finishes.
Personal:
Hite, originally from Denver, Colorado, swam collegiately at the University of Texas under head coach Eddie Reese and was a member of their 1996 Men’s National Championship team. After completing his bachelor’s degree in Sport Management in 1997, Hite went to the University of Georgia where he earned his master’s degree in Education in 2001. He and his wife, Helen, have three children; Jackson, 11, Holly, 9, and Heidi, 6.
