Bob Filander has been hired as the new head coach of Division III Austin College in Sherman, Texas, on the northern outskirts of Dallas, the school announced today. Filander spent the 2011-2012 season as a volunteer assistant with Austin College’s men’s and women’s teams.
His coaching experience comes from Washington & Jefferson, where he was an assistant coach from his 1999 graduation through 2007. That includes being there for the first five of eight NCAA Division III National Championships by Kaitlyn Orstein, the program’s most successful swimmer.
While an undergrad at Washington & Jefferson, he was a conference champion in the 1oo breaststroke and 400 medley relay, and also was on the track team where he won conference titles in the 400 meters, 4×100 meter relay, and 4×400 meter relay, and was the Washington & Jefferson Male Athlete of the Year in 1998-1999.
In the gap on his resume, Filander was the Aquatic Director at the Charlotte County YMCA in Florida from 2007-2009. He also coached water polo at Washington & Jefferson, and helped produce the official Water Polo Officiating Manual.
During Filander’s previous stint with the Roos, he is credited in part with saving the life of athlete Jeff Munn by retrieving and successfully using an AED after Jeff Munn collapsed on deck during an intrasquad meet. His wife, Michelle, is the head women’s basketball coach at Austin College and their senior women’s administrator. Though the release doesn’t declare it, the official 2013 SCAC manual says that he was an assistant last season as well.
Former head coach Brian Wright left to take a faculty position at Depauw University in Indiana.