May 2, 2007
ATLANTA–Courtney Shealy Hart, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, joins the Georgia Tech swimming and diving staff as an assistant coach, announced by head coach Stuart Wilson on Wednesday. Hart will assist with all the day-to-day operations of the Yellow Jacket swimming program.
“We are lucky to have such a young and enthusiastic coach coming here to Georgia Tech who is a former Olympian,” said Wilson. “She brings a tremendous amount of international experience and will be a great addition to our program.”
Hart spent one season as an assistant coach at North Florida. There she helped guide the team to a fifth-place finish at the Pacific Coast Swimming Conference Championships and led nine individuals to top 16 finishes at the meet. Hart guided one athlete to a top eight finish in the conference championship.
Before heading into the coaching scene, Hart participated in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games for the United States. She took home a pair of gold medals in Sydney, Australia, in the 400-meter medley and 400-meter freestyle relays for the U.S.
Hart has also competed on the international scene in the Pan-American Games (1999), Pan Pacific (2002) and the United States World Cup Teams (2000-04). At the University of Georgia, Hart was named the 2000 NCAA Female Swimmer of the Year after capturing national titles in the 50m free, 100m free, 100m backstroke, 400m free relay and 400m medley relay. She finished her NCAA career with 26 All-America honors, plus two more honorable mention honors, tops in UGA history.
She also won nine individual Southeastern Conference titles, 10 SEC relay crowns and set five conference records. Hart was named SEC Female Swimmer of the Year in 2000.
Along with competing in swimming, Hart also played volleyball for the Bulldogs and lettered from 1997-99. She was named team’s most valuable player in 1998 and was the first NCAA Division I female student-athlete to compete in two sports on the same day, accomplishing that feat three times at Georgia.
After graduating from the University of Georgia in 2001 cum laude with a degree in sports studies/communications, Hart worked as a motivational speaker for the NCAA, Coca-Cola, Healthsouth and Arby’s, and served as the director of the Golden West Swim Lessons Program in Huntington Beach, Calif., before heading to North Florida.
Hart earned her master’s degree from UGA in sports management in 2005. A native of Columbia, S.C., Hart, and her husband Justin, reside in Atlanta.
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