Chris Carter begins his eighth season at W&M in 2019-20, and has been instrumental in helping the Green and Gold win seven Colonial Athletic Association Championships in the last five years. Carter was elevated to interim head coach of the combined program in May of 2019, following four years as the associate head coach and three as an assistant coach. He assists with all aspects of the Tribe's program, including on-deck coaching during practice and meets, planning of workouts and meets, recruiting, and other administrative tasks, and is the primary coach for the distance group.
In 2018-19, Carter's group mounted yet another assault on the record books, especially on the men's side where Carter Kale and Chris Balbo exchanged dual-meet and pool records on a weekly basis in the 500 free, 1000 free, 1650 free, and the 200 fly. At the CAA Championships, the duo both earned All-CAA honors in the 500 free and the 400 IM, in the latter event finishing behind only Ben Skopic who won for the second year in a row. Kale also won his third-straight title in the 1,650 free, and also repeated as a member of the 800 free relay championship team along with Skopic, Eric Grimes, and Colin Wright. On the women's side, Maria Oceguera and Megan Bull made their own push on the record books over the course of the year. Bull broke her own record in the 500 free and repeated as the CAA Champion in that event, and also earned All-CAA honors in the 200 free (where she broke the decade-old school record leading off the 800 free relay) and the 1,650 free. Oceguera meanwhile finished her career on a spectacular note, winning the 200 fly in her final collegiate race.
2017-18 saw the distance swimmers win six CAA titles, three each for men and women, including a sweep of both 800 free relays. For the women, the 800 free relay win was the first for the Tribe since 2009. Freshman Megan Bull led-off that relay, and also won the 500 free in a school-record time as well as broke the school record in the 200 breast. That week, in addition to a strong season all year long, earned Bull CAA Rookie of the Year honors. Junior Morgan Smith won her second individual title, the 400 IM, in addition to swimming on the 800 free relay with Bull, Maria Oceguera, and Tara Tiernan. On the men's side, Carter Kale repeated as the CAA Champion in the 1,650 free ahead of his teammate Chris Balbo, while Ben Skopic won the 400 IM with Ian Bidwell also claiming All-CAA honors. The men's 800 free relay won for the eighth year in a row, with a team that included Skopic, Kale, Eric Grimes, and Kyle Neri.
In 2016-17, Carter's swimmers continue to lead the way, accounting for three individual CAA titles and numerous freshman and school records. In his first season after transferring, Carter Kale swept the 500 and 1650 free titles at the CAA Championship, the latter in a school-record time of 15:20.04, and freshman Chris Balbo added the championship in the 400 IM with a freshman-record time. Balbo also finished second in the mile and fifth in the 500 free. Another rookie, Ian Bidwell, was third in the 500 free, and then fought through a stomach big to take eighth in the 400 IM and fourth in the 1650 free. During the regular season, Balbo broke the Tribe's dual-meet records for the 500, 1,000, and 1,650 free all during an eight-day stretch, and also broke the Rec Center's pool record for the 400 IM (4:00.02) by swimming 3:59.87 on Senior Day, beating the mark that was set by two-time Olympian Frederick Hviid back in 1992. Kale also broke W&M's pool record in the 1,000 free at the final dual meet, timing 9:28.91 to lower that record by nearly a second. On the women's side, sophomore's Maria Oceguera and Morgan Smith finished 2-3 in the 500 free on the first night of the CAA Championships, then flipped positions in the 1650 on the final day. Smith also swam a lifetime-best to take ninth in the 400 IM, while Oceguera was third in the 200 fly in the same session as her mile, locking up the conference title for the Tribe with her performance.
In 2015-16, the Tribe distance group took a major step forward, and helped lead W&M to its first-ever sweep of the team CAA Championships. On the women's side, freshman Maria Oceguera was the top swimmer throughout the season, and broke the freshman record in the mile at the mid-season Bucknell Invitational. She fell sick in the lead-up to the conference meet, however, but her classmate Morgan Smith stepped up in her absence and won CAA Rookie of the Year honors. Smith's week included top-five finishes in both the 500 free and the 400 IM, and she won the 1,650 free going away for W&M's first championship in the mile since 1986. Smith set freshman records in the 500, 1,000, and 1,650 frees, and her winning time of 16:36.86 in the 1,650 broke the school record as well. On the men's side, W&M swept the distance titles, with senior Jeremiah O'Donnell defending his 400 IM title, and first-time medalists in the 500 free (freshman Eric Grimes) and 1,650 free (sophomore Conrad Zamparello). As a result of his efforts, Carter was named the Rising Assistant (five years or less) National Coach of the Year by CollegeSwimming.com.
Carter's third season on the pool deck proved the breakthrough, as the W&M men won their first-ever CAA Championships team trophy, and the women finished third with their second-best score ever. The Tribe men won the 800 free relay for the fifth year in a row, becoming just the second school in league history to win the same race five years in a row. Four of the Tribe's all-time top-eight performers in the 500 free and three of the top-10 in both the 1,000 and the 1,650 free were swum during the 2014-15 season, including freshmen Conrad Zamparello (CAA bronze-medalist and freshman-record holder in the 400 IM) and Tommy Kealy, who converted from the sprints in January to score in both the 500 and the 1,650. On the women's side, sophomore Selina Fuller became the first W&M swimmer to crack the podium in the 1650 free, finishing third with the second-fastest 1,000 and 1,650 times in school history. She was also an A-finalist in the 500 free to boot, swimming a lifetime-best in that event as well.
During Carter's first two years with the Tribe, the men's team has put together its best two seasons ever and the women's team has proven to be one of the elite teams in the CAA once again. Working heavily with the distance events, he oversaw a unit that produced multiple CAA titles and school records. The men's team won the 800 free relay in both 2013 and 2014, setting the conference record while extending the Tribe's winning streak in the event to an unprecedented four-straight years. Kemp Pettyjohn became the first men's swimmer to win the 500 free and the 1650 free in 2013, and senior Caylyn Tate for the women broke the school records in the 1000 free and the mile while finishing third in the 1650 free that same season.
Also of note has been the development of Hannah Vester. As a freshman in 2013, she set the Tribe's freshman record in the 1650, and improved on that the following year. Vester also became the Tribe's first-ever competitor at the USA Swimming Open Water Nationals in 2013, racing in the 5K. On the men's side, sophomore Charley Bowles won the 400 IM at the 2014 CAA Championships, becoming the Tribe's first-ever titlist in the that event, and six of the Tribe's all-time top nine swimmers in the 400 IM earned their lifetime-best performances under Carter.
Carter’s most recent stop on his six-year coaching career was at Georgia Southern, where he was the Eagles’ assistant coach for the last two years. He helped lead the team to a 23-9 record during his two seasons, and a program-best-ever finish of third at the 2012 CCSA Championships. GSU athletes set 125 lifetime-bests and 12 school records during Carter’s tenure, including a 100%-lifetime-best success rate among the distance swimmers. Prior to his time at GSU, Carter was an assistant coach with the Athens Bulldog Swim Club for three years. He has also worked as a counselor and instructor at several high level camps over the past few years, including at Texas A&M and at Navy.
Carter graduated from Georgia in 2010 with a degree in health and physical education, and earned his Master’s of Science in sports psychology in 2012 from Georgia Southern. He holds Level 2 certification from the American Swim Coaches Association, and is also a licensed teacher (PK-12) in the state of Georgia.
