Joshua Huger in his third season with the William and Mary swimming program in 2015-16, helping lead the Tribe to the pinnacle of the Colonial Athletic Association. Huger's duties include assisting with all coaching, administrative, and recruiting functions associated with running the W&M program, with a special emphasis on coaching the team's sprinters.
In 2014-15, the Tribe sprinters once again made one of the largest contributions to the team's success. The W&M men won the 200 medley, and also took second in the 200 free relay. That was merely prelude to the gold-medal 400 free relay that broke the school record, and secured the Tribe's first-ever conference team title. Senior Matt Goetz swam on both the 200 medley and the conference-record 400 medley relay, and won his first-ever conference title in the 100 breast, setting a lifetime-best by more than 3/4 of a second after battling his way back from injuries the previous two years. Goetz also set lifetime-bests in the 50 free and the 200 breast at the conference meet.
On the women's side, W&M swept both the 200-yard relays, and sophomore Jaimie Miller earned a pair of individual silver medals and a pair of NCAA qualifiers. Freshman Abby Mack became the second-straight Huger swimmer to claim Rookie of the Year honors, swimming lifetime-bests in the 50 free and both fly events. She was part of the gold-medal 200 free relay, and also broke the Tribe freshman record in both the 100 and 200 fly.
In his first season on the Tribe's deck in 2013-14, Huger led the sprinters to one of their best-ever seasons, playing a major role in the team's post-season success. Sophomore Billy Russell broke long-standing school records in the 50, 100, and 200 free, and won five CAA titles at the 2014 Championships including both the 100 and 200 individually. Freshman Risten Clarke smashed the freshman records in both the 50 free and the 100 free, and the Tribe won a 200-yard relay for the first time in school history. At the end of the year, Huger was was nominated and selected Honorable Mention Men's Assistant Coach of the Year by the College Swimming Honors magazine.
On the women's side, junior Megan Howard set major personal-bests in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly, qualifying for the NCAA Championships in all three events. Howard set the school record in the 100 fly, and won the CAA title in the 50 free as well. Freshman Jaimie Miller won the conference title in the 100 free in an upset performance, and was named the CAA Rookie of the Year for her achievements. The women's team also finished second in both the 200 free and 400 free relays, losing only to conference-record performances.
Huger came to W&M after spending the past two years as an assistant coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. During his tenure with the Crimson Hawks, Huger helped coach four athletes to achieve nine All-American performances, including Division II national champion and record-holder Jackie Hynson (2012). In the PSAC, athletes won 11 conference titles, and also won IUP's first relay gold in 13 years. In total through his two years with the program, Huger's athletes collected 31 school records, 58 NCAA consideration performances, two automatic-qualifying efforts.
Huger also started up IUP's first-ever swim club team, growing the club to more than 30 members and qualifying athletes to YMCA Master Nationals and USMS Nationals. During the last three summers, he was a coach and counselor at Texas' Longhorn Swim Camp (2011) and at the Naval Academy Swim Camp (2012 & 2013), working with hundreds of youth and high school swimmers with a wide variety of expertise. Huger also spent two years as an assistant coach with two Virginia club teams, Virginia Swimming and the Rappahanock Area YMCA. He created and implemented workouts for some of the fastest age-group level boys in the state of Virginia, and gained valuable on-deck coaching experience during championship-level events.
Huger earned his bachelor's degree in sports management from IUP in 2011, and completed a Master's degree in the field the following year. While still an undergraduate in 2010, he founded SwimUtopia.com, a website devoted to covering swimming at all levels. Through his website, he has worked closely with several mid-major and Division II conferences, as well provided videos, results, and news to thousands of visitors each month.
Huger and his wife, Katie, were married in July of 2012, and reside in Williamsburg.
