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Chief Assistant Coach: Mike Litzinger

Mike Litzinger starts his third season with the Carolina swimming program this year. Litzinger had tremendous success coaching the middle distance program for the 2008-2009 season. Junior Jason Mclaughlin broke a school record in the 200-yard butterfly and was named All-ACC for his performance in this event last season. Junior Ashley Howard made NCAAs in the 200-yard backstroke after setting the school record. Litzinger coached juniors Megan Steeves and Eliza Butts who also qualified for NCAAs on the record breaking 400 and 800-yard freestyle relays. There were a total of eight relay records broken by Litzinger's swimmers. Butts and Steeves each helped set three records and Mclaughlin one. Junior Jeff James helped break the 400-medley, 400-free and 200-freestyle relay records also. Freshman Evan Reed helped to break the 200, 400 and 800-yard freestyle relays.

During the 2007-2008 season, Litzinger had two All-ACC swimmers at the ACC Championships. Sophomore Megan Steeves placed third in the 100 backstroke and freshman Vinny Pryor finished second in the 200 breastroke. Litzinger was part a staff that sent 27 Tar Heels to Olympic Trials in June 2008.

Litzinger, most recently the former head swimming coach at the University of Utah, was hired in June 2007 to be a new full-time assistant swimming coach at the University of North Carolina. Litzinger is involved in all aspects of the program with his primary emphasis on coaching the middle distance group.

"We were thrilled to add Mike Litzinger as an assistant swimming coach at North Carolina. Mike is an outstanding person with a tremendous coaching record," Tar Heel head coach Rich DeSelm says. "His coaching, administrative and recruiting skills are helping us compete at a higher level nationally. Mike has earned respect nationally from his peers as a terrific coach and a true professional. We are thrilled to have Mike, his wife, Julie, and their family here in Chapel Hill."

In seven seasons in Salt Lake City, Litzinger reinvigorated the University of Utah men's and women's swimming and diving and teams, making them into a pair of the top teams in the Mountain West Conference and the nation.

Litzinger is known as an innovative coach with his on-deck coaching techniques and a great evaluator of talent. He turned Utah into a highly competitive program with an influx of talent and a winning attitude.

The Utes program excelled in his last season there in 2006-07. The women went undefeated in dual meets at 10-0, upping their mark over the past three seasons to an impressive 28-1. The women had three conference champions, while Amber Walter won the MWC Swimmer of the Year award and Kelsey Patterson garnered the MWC Diver of the Year award. The women established six school records in 2007 and placed 12 individuals and four relay teams on the all-conference squad. At the 2007 NCAA Championships, Alison McIntuff of the Utes earned All-America honors in the 200-yard freestyle with a scorching time of 1:46.56.

The men's team finished the 2006-07 campaign with six Ute swimmers and divers landing on the all-conference squad. Breaststroker Michael DeCarolis garnered two of the all-conference honors.

Litzinger's teams in 2005-06 were also excellent as the women's team won its third straight regular-season MWC title. Diver Sterling Richards' fifth-place NCAA finish earned the senior All-America honors. The MWC honored Litzinger as the conference's Coach of the Year for the second time during his tenure there. In 2005-06, the team set 13 school records, five MWC records and put a record number of athletes on the MWC All-Academic team.

At the 2005 MWC Championships, Litzinger coached seven conference champions, including Marta Stepanczuk, Alison McInturff, Michelle Blair, Rachael Curci, Loren Sweny, Cody Rempfer and Jonathan Larsen. The women's team enjoyed unprecedented success in 2005, capturing its second straight MWC title and its first-ever outright title with a 7-0 conference mark.

Litzinger guided his 2004 squad to a 9-0 overall dual-meet record. That was the second most wins in school history. Only the 2003 swimming Utes had more wins in school history with a 10-8 record.

Thirteen Utes from the women's team garnered all-MWC accolades, including first-team selections Michelle Blair, Rachael Curci, Marissa Martin, Alison McInturff, Kelsey Patterson, Marta Stepanczuk and Jamie Trapp. Stepanczuk qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 500 and 1650 freestyles. On the men's side, the Utes won a share of the MWC title, the team's first championship since 1995, after tallying a 3-1 conference mark. The men finished the season 4-2 overall. Eight men earned all-MWC honors, including first-team honorees Damien Brown, Evan Castro, Andrew Cole, Jonathan Larsen, Matan Ratz, Cody Rempfer and Sterling Richards.

In 2002-03, the Utah women set a school record with 10 wins. The Utes turned in a 10-8 overall mark, going 5-2 in conference. The men also had a landmark season with a five dual-meet wins, the first time since 1999 that the squad had more than four wins in a season. The Utes also had strong finishes at the 2003 Mountain West Conference and Utah also added a 19th-place finish at the Phillips 66 U.S. National Championships.

In 2001-02, Litzinger was recognized as the Mountain West Conference women's Coach of the Year after the Utes broke six school records and placed 25th at the Phillips 66 U.S. National Championships.

Overall, in Litzinger's seven years, the Utes broke 35 school records, qualified eight athletes in 23 different events at the NCAA Championships and 14 swimmers for the U.S. Nationals. Both programs garnered academic All-America status from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.

Litzinger has received numerous accolades for his dedication to the sport of swimming. He was awarded Eastern Intercollegiate Coach of the Year awards in 1992 and 1994 and Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year accolades in 1996 and 1997 while serving as the head coach at St. Bonaventure University.

Before going to Utah, Litzinger was the assistant men's coach at Ohio State University from 1997-2000. While there, he helped lead the team to a 20th-place finish in the NCAA meet in 1998 and a 25th-place finish in 2000.

At St. Bonaventure University from 1989-97, Litzinger was head coach of the women's swimming program. He led the Bonnies to an Eastern Intercollegiate Conference title and two Atlantic 10 Conference championships in his tenure there.

Litzinger began his coaching career at Fredonia State University in New York in 1988-89. While at Fredonia State, Litzinger took the Blue Devils to a second place SUNYAC Conference finish.

A 1984 graduate of Hobart College, Litzinger received his Bachelor's Degree in English and was captain of the Hobart swimming team in 1983-84. The same year he was voted the program's Most Valuable Swimmer. In 1988, he received his master's degree in exercise science from the University of Iowa. While working on his master's degree, Litzinger was the Hawkeyes' graduate assistant men's coach.

The New York native and his wife, Julie, reside in Durham, N.C. The Litzingers have two children, Gabrielle, three years old, and Grace, two years old.