June 20, 2013
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech swimming & diving head coach Courtney Shealy Hart has announced that Eric Stefanski and Yun Qu have joined her staff as assistant coaches.
Stefanski, who comes to the Flats after six years in the same capacity at the University of North Carolina, will be the Yellow Jackets’ primary sprint coach. Qu, an Olympic swimmer and two-time silver-medalist in the 1994 World Championships, will serve as Tech’s distance coach.
These two join Hart’s staff, which also includes assistant coach Bill Koppelman (middle distance), who was hired last July, and 11-year diving coach John Ames.
“I am thrilled to be adding coaches with the caliber of Eric and Yu to our staff,” said Hart. “They each possess extensive experience in the swimming world – Eric at the college level, and Yun at the Olympic level – and will be valuable assets as we continue to build the swimming program at Georgia Tech.”
In his six years in Chapel Hill, Stefanski coached a sprint group that totaled 21 NCAA Championship appearances, received 14 All-America honors, set nearly 25 school records and won five Atlantic Coast Conference titles. Former Tar Heel Steve Cebertowicz flourished under Stefanski’s guidance, finishing the 2012 season as an NCAA finalist in the 50 and 100 free, and setting national top 10 times in both events. He was the ACC champion in the 100 free in 2011. Backstroker Tommy Wyher was also one of Stefanski’s prodigies, as the four-time All-American won four straight ACC titles in the 100 back between 2008 and 2011.
“Eric’s resume speaks for itself,” said Hart. “He has been in the ACC the last six years and done a tremendous job with the sprint program at UNC. He knows what it takes to balance academics and athletics at a high level in our conference. I’m confident that with Eric’s leadership, we will return our sprint program to a powerhouse in the ACC.”
Stefanski began his coaching career at the high school and club levels, immediately after receiving his B.S. degree in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1998, where he was an accomplished collegiate swimmer. He went on to earn his M.S. degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in sports psychology from Georgia Southern University in 2002.
Stefanski is a former head coach at the University of Rochester, where he was conference coach of the year in 2003, and assistant coach at his alma mater, Pittsburgh. He has been active with Team USA as a manager since 2010, having worked the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships (Irvine, Calif.), World University Games (Shenzhen, China) and this summer’s World Championships in Barcelona, Spain.
Qu is no stranger to the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, having competed in the venue for her native China at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games and finishing fourth in the 200m fly. She was part-time assistant coach for the Yellow Jackets last season, and has been promoted to full-time status in 2013 and will coach the distance swimmers.
“I am very excited to have a female of Yun’s caliber join our staff,” said Hart. “She did a tremendous job for us last year as a part-time coach and immediately earned the respect of our student-athletes. Her Olympic training background shows in her dedication to the sport. She is very technically minded and will be a huge asset to our program.”
In the 1994 World Championships in Rome, she was the silver-medalist in both the 100m and 200m butterfly, a year after ranking No. 1 in the world and setting an Asian record in the 200m fly (2:08.53), and ranking No. 2 in the world in the 100m fly (59.27).
Qu came to Georgia Tech after five years as the associate head men’s and women’s swimming coach at SUNY-Binghamton. Her previous coaching stints have included Iowa State for two seasons, and Ithaca College for one.
She attended Shenzhen University in Shenzhen, China for two years, and then enrolled at SUNY-Binghamton where she graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2005 with a B.S. degree in human development. Qu received her M.S. in exercise science from Ithaca in 2006.
Tech opens the 2013-14 season versus Limestone College at the GT Aquatic Center on Sept. 28.
