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Harvey Humphries, a fixture in the Georgia swimming and diving program for more than three decades, was promoted to senior associate head coach in 2012.
Humphries is entering his 32nd year on the Georgia staff and his 38th year as a member of the program (including four years as a letterman and two years as a graduate assistant).
"He's been so loyal to our program," Georgia head coach Jack Bauerle said. "There's no question that much of our success can be traced to his hard work in the areas of coaching and recruiting. We would not be where we are without him."
Humphries is involved in all facets of the swimming program at Georgia, including concentration with the distance swimmers and heavy involvement in recruiting. Humphries was a nominee for the 2002 AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award.
Under Humphries since 1989, Georgia boasts 17 NCAA and 46 SEC titles in the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley. Current Georgia swimmers Grodzki, Allison Schmitt, Shannon Vreeland and Amber McDermott are included in those numbers. The Bulldogs, in fact, have won the SEC title in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle eight straight seasons.
Led by Humphries, the distance swimmers saw tremendous success in 2012. Martin Grodzki claimed the NCAA titles in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle, following up his SEC titles in the same events. Grodzki won his third consecutive title in the 1,650 freestyle with the fastest NCAA time in history. Andrew Gemmell placed fifth in the men's 1,650 freestyle.
The women's team claimed experienced similar success, as Amber McDermott and Wendy Trott had second place NCAA finishes in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle events, respectively. Interestingly, Trott placed fifth in the 500 freestyle while McDermott placed fifth in the 1,650 freestyle. Trott's 1,650 time at NCAAs is the second fastest of all time. Shannon Vreeland also recorded a fouth place finish in the 500 freestyle. At the SECs, McDermott won the 500 freestyle and Trott won the 1,650 freestyle to become the first woman in SEC history to claim the league title four times.
On an international scale, Gemmell won the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 1,500-meter freestyle and placed ninth in London, while Trott swam the 800-meter freestyle for South Africa and also placed ninth.
In 2011, Allison Schmitt and Trott won national titles in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle, respectively, for the third straight year. At the SECs, Shannon Vreeland won the 500 freestyle and Trott won the 1,650 freestyle for the third time, while Martin Grodzki repeated in the 1,650 freestyle on the men's side.
During 2011, Humphries served on the USA team staff for the World University Games in China. He was joined on the team by Mark Dylla, Bill Cregar, Matt Bartlett, Megan Romano and Shannon Vreeland.
In 2010, Schmitt and Trott won titles in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle, respective, for the second straight year. At the SECs, Trott won both the 500 and the 1,650 freestyle, while Grodzki won the 1,650 freestyle and earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors.
In 2009, Troyden Prinsloo and Trott won the national titles in the 1,650-yard freestyle races, while Schmitt and Trott went 1-2 in the 500 free at the NCAAs. Chelsea Nauta had fifth-place efforts in the 500 and 1,650 races, and Prinsloo took fourth in the 500. Schmitt (500), Prinsloo (1,000) and Trott (1,650) all set new school records. Prinsloo won the SEC titles in both races, while Schmitt took the 500 and Trott won the 1,650. Schmitt was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Year.
In 2008, Sebastien Rouault and Prinsloo went 1-2 at the NCAAs in the 1,650, and they came in first and sixth, respectively, in the 500 free. Bill Cregar also earned All-America status with a 16th-place effort in the 1,650. On the women's side, Nauta took sixth in the 500, while Kelsey Ditto was eighth in the 1,650 and ninth in the 500. Rouault ended his career with three NCAA titles, a school-record nine SEC crowns (including a clean sweep of the 500 and 1,650 free races), and the Georgia marks in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650 events.
In 2007, Humphries coached Rouault and Claire Maust to three SEC titles. Under Humphries' tutelage, Rouault twice was named the SEC Male Swimmer of the Year.
In 2006, Humphries helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to the SEC championship and a runner-up finish at the NCAAs. Two of Humphries' pupils, Laura Conway and Rouault, won individual national titles. Conway set the school record in the 1,000 and 1,650 events, while Elizabeth Hill set the school mark in the 500 in 2005.
Humphries was chosen as the 2005 Georgia Senior Coach of the Year by United States Swimming - the third time he's been honored. USA Swimming chose Humphries as a member of the staff for the World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand. He was joined there by UGA swimmers Maust, Peter Verhoef, Kevin Hensley, Aleksandra Putra, Kelsey Ditto and Lauren English.
Apart from collegiate coaching, the Little Rock, Ark., native has also served as a coach for U.S. Swimming (USS) select camps and Zone District camps and is currently on the international trip list as a level five coach for the NCAA and USS. In the spring of 1997, Humphries was assistant women's coach of the U.S. National Junior team, competing in Malmo, Sweden, and served as head men's coach for the U.S. National Junior Team's fall training camp in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Locally, Humphries serves as head coach of the Athens Bulldog Swim Club (ABSC) which has developed some of the top talent in the Southeast, including former Bulldogs and All-Americans Kara Manglitz and Paige Wilson and NCAA champion Matt Buck. Under his guidance, ABSC individuals have enjoyed five Junior National and four Senior National individual titles. ABSC women's teams have finished in the Top 10 at U.S. Nationals eight times, while the men have finished in the Top 10 on five occasions. At the 2008 U.S. Open, ABSC finished first among the women, fifth among the men and second overall.
Humphries has also served as senior chairman for age-group swimming in Georgia and was the first recipient of the Walt Schluetter Award, given annually to top national age-group coaches.
Spending his "off time" working for U.S. Swimming, Humphries was the head coach of the National Team Distance Camp in July of 1998 after serving as an assistant coach at the camp in 1995. Humphries also served as an assistant coach for the victorious South squad in the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival in St. Louis. Humphries has given his time to the Paralympic Games, working as a volunteer along with members of ABSC during the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta.
Humphries' international travels took him to Barcelona as an assistant coach of the National Junior Team in 1999, and most recently he served as the head men's coach for the 2002 National Junior Team that competed in Rome.
For his contributions to the sport of swimming as both an athlete and a coach, Humphries was inducted into the state of Arkansas Swimming Hall of Fame in 2002
Humphries graduated from Georgia in 1979 with a B.S. degree in microbiology. He and his wife Wendy have a son Billy and a daughter Pirie Anne.
