Aug. 16, 2001
ATLANTA – John Ames, formerly of George Washington University and the Montgomery Dive Club, has been named the diving coach at Georgia Tech, Head Coach for Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Seth Baron announced on Thursday.
Ames arrives on the Flats with an impressive resume that includes guiding one of the largest diving programs in the nation with the Montgomery Dive Club as the team’s associate head coach and leading the George Washington Colonials to numerous upper-tier Atlantic 10 Conference finishes in six seasons with the team.
“We are extremely pleased to have John join our staff,” said Baron. “He has a great combination of both college and club coaching experience. Under John’s direction, the divers at George Washington have been very successful within the Atlantic 10 Conference. In addition, the Montgomery Dive Club has consistently been ranked in the Top 5 at the Junior National level, finishing second this summer in Indianapolis.”
The success of the Montgomery Dive Club has included multiple Junior National and Senior National qualifiers, along with a number of Junior World Championship Qualifiers. With the team, Ames was responsible for selection team members, designing workouts and coaching and preparing the team for competition at the national and international level. At Georgia Washington, under Ames direction, both the men’s and women’s teams have finished as high as second in the Atlantic 10, with numerous divers qualifying for NCAA Zone Championships.
“Im looking forward to the upcoming season here at Georgia Tech,” said Ames. “I’m optimistic about the diving team being able to produce points for the team this year and I think that the program has a very bright future. “I’ll look to bring structure and stability to the program and I look forward to working with Seth because he has shown the ability to recruit and improve the team in the last few years.”
Prior to his tenure with the Montgomery Dive Club and George Washington, Ames served as an assistant coach with the Northern Virginia Dive Club following a stint as a graduate assistant and diving coach at Western Illinois University. Ames was a letterwinner during his collegiate career at Ohio University, graduating in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. While at Western Illinois, he earned a Master of Science degree in sport administration.
“Having John on the coaching staff will allow Georgia Tech to have an immediate impact with our diving program, both in the pool and on the recruiting front,” said Baron. “Once the enclosure of the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center is complete, we will have one of the best diving facilities in the country. This along with the success of the swimming teams, will allow us to attract the best available divers to Georgia Tech. We have a very exciting future ahead of us.”
