Missouri Hires Bex Freebairn as Associate Head Coach
The University of Missouri last week hired Bex Freebairn as an associate head coach, bringing her over after a successful stint at Akron. Freebairn had been an assistant coach at Akron, where she helped the Zips to the Mid-American Conference championship in 2022 and 2023.
“Bex is a true innovator in the pool, who excels at relationships and brings fresh ideas to the table!” Missouri head coach Andrew Grevers said in a university statement.
Freebairn is a native of New Zealand. She swam there through college before an injury forced her to retire. She earned her bachelor’s of sport coaching degree at the University of Canterbury in her home country and obtained a master’s degree at Indiana State.
“I am very grateful to the coaches and athletes that I have worked with over the last few years, Freebairn said. “You have all had a huge influence on me personally and played a huge role in this new opportunity. I am very honored and excited to be joining the Mizzou swim and dive family in this role. Coach Grevers has been extremely welcoming! Alec Hayden, Andrew Sansoucie and Maddy Banic have also made this process smooth so I am thrilled to be joining an exciting staff. I see a huge opportunity in Columbia with great student-athletes, phenomenal academics and a beautiful campus, I can’t wait to get started.”
Freebairn’s first foray into American coaching came at Indiana State from 2016-18. She helped the Sycamores win 13 meets in her second year and rewrite every school record at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships that year. She coached the program’s first MVC individual champion, mentored nine All-MVC recipients and led the team to the highest GPA in the conference.
From Indiana State, she spent two seasons as an assistant at Washington State, mentoring four Cougars to Olympic B cuts and an NCAA qualifier in Mackenzie Duarte. She spent a year coaching Swim Waipa, a club in Cambridge, New Zealand, and coached for a national regional development squad in her home country.
