Michael Stephens Leaves Boston College to Take Top Job at Hawaii
Boston College head swimming and diving coach Michael Stephens has left to take the same job at the University of Hawaii, the schools announced Wednesday.
Stephens has spent most of the last decade and a half at Boston College. He graduated in 2012, as a team captain and one of the program’s best male breaststrokers. He became an assistant coach soon after, overseeing recruiting, and took the head coaching job in 2017 at the age of 26.
Stephens helped the Eagles break more than 120 school records and combine for 29 NCAA B standard/zone diving performances for a program perennially near the bottom of an ACC that has improved greatly in recent years. Stephens also had three women qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2021 and served as an assistant coach to the Barbados National Swim Team, with his swimmer Alex Sobers.
“I am honored to be named the head coach of the swimming and diving program at the University of Hawai’i,” Stephens said in a Hawaii statement. “Thank you to David Matlin and the search committee for their trust in me to lead this team. I’m excited to join a department and a community with a set of values that align closely with me and my coaching philosophy. I’m grateful for the opportunity to live and work in a place with a rich swimming history and to lead a program that is positioned to develop elite student-athletes. I am confident that together we can achieve at the highest level and I can’t wait to get started.”
Hawaii’s women’s team won five MPSF titles over the last six years and two men’s crowns since 2019.
Stephens replaces Marcus Guttmann, who was the head coach on an interim basis for the spring semester. Long-time Hawaii head coach Mike Brown retired effective Dec. 31, 2021.
“I’m excited to welcome Michael to our UH ‘ohana,” Hawaii Athletics Director David Matlin said. “Michael is an impressive young coach who has the leadership abilities to make our Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine champions in the pool, in the classroom and out in the community. I look forward to our student-athletes thriving under his guidance.”
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