Jackie Whitty Named Assistant Swimming Coach At UMBC

Courtesy: UMBC Athletics

Jackie Whitty joined the UMBC swimming and diving staff in August, 2021.

Whitty has been acting interim head coach for both the men’s and women’s swimming teams at Long Island University since April 2021.  Prior to that, she assisted Head Coach Matt Donovan for the 2020-2021 season at LIU.

During her tenure, she contributed to the team’s success both in and out of the pool.  The Sharks earned CSCAA Academic Honors for both the Fall 2020 as well as Spring 2021 semesters. The team went on to produce seven individual Northeast Conference Champions as well as three relay team champions – one being a meet record – along with over 30 additional top-eight finishes.  She and Coach Donovan were also awarded 2021 Northeast Conference Coaching Staff of the Year for both the men’s and women’s team, while freshman Daniel Chocano Fernandez earned 2021 Northeast Conference Rookie of the Meet.

Whitty possesses an additional 15 years of coaching experience, encompassing the age-group, collegiate and Masters levels. The majority of her coaching career has been spent with the Westfield Area YMCA Devilfish Swim Team in New Jersey.  During this time, the team grew from 160 to over 250 swimmers.  In her 12 years at the YMCA, she developed multiple YMCA State Champions, Academic All-Americans, Junior and Senior National qualifiers, and U.S. Open qualifiers.

In 2017, she was recruited to coach for 757Swim in Williamsburg Virginia, to develop their age-group program.  In her two years coaching there, the team was awarded USA Bronze Medal status for the first time ever.  She also led the age-group program to a first-place finish in their division at the Virginia State Championships for the first time in team history.

Whitty attended the College of New Jersey and competed all four years for the Lions.  She helped the team earn four NJAC (New Jersey Athletic Conference) titles as well as three Metropolitan Conference titles and multiple individual top-eight finishes.  She graduated from TCNJ with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice studies in 2005.

She was team captain her senior year and then went on to coach for the Lady Lions the following year, helping lead the squad to another NJAC title along with a second place finish at the Metropolitan Conference Championship.