May 25, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Georgia Tech swimming head coach Courtney Shealy Hart was inducted into the 50th Anniversary Class of the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame on Monday night at a ceremony held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in downtown Columbia, S.C.
Shealy Hart, a native of Irmo, S.C., won two Olympic gold medals in swimming (400-meter relay and 400-freestyle relay) for the USA in 2000 after leading the University of Georgia to the NCAA team swim championships in 1999 and 2000. In 2000, she was named the NCAA Female Swimmer of Year after winning national titles in the 50-meter freestyle, the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke. Shealy Hart also won NCAA titles in the 400-meter freestyle and 400-meter medley relay.
Shealy Hart completed her first season as head coach of the Yellow Jacket men’s and women’s swimming teams in March after spending two seasons in the program as an assistant coach.
In her first season as head coach on “The Flats”, Hart led the men’s team to a fifth finish at the ACC Championships and the women’s squad to a ninth place finish. Shealy Hart also coached Tech senior Gal Nevo, who repeated as ACC Swimmer of the Year in 2009-10 and earned All-American honors in two events (200-IM, 400-IM) at the NCAA Championships in March.
Prior to joining the Georgia Tech coaching staff in 2007, Shealy Hart was an assistant at North Florida for one season.
Shealy Hart was joined in the 50th Anniversary Class of the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame by Clemson graduate and NBA veteran Horace Grant, Grand Slam Tennis Champion Stan Smith, former Major League Baseball player Wayne Tolleston and Bob McNair owner of the NFL’s Houston Texans, along with Furman tennis coach Paul Scarpa, former Clemson offensive lineman Joe Bostic and ex-South Carolina defensive back Bill Currier.
