Women's Swimming & Diving
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
Dr. Josh White concluded his 14th season on the Michigan coaching staff, serving the last nine years as associate head coach. The previous four years (2009-12), White was the assistant head coach for the men's team.
White has kept the strong tradition of distance swimming at Michigan alive. In his 14 years, his distance swimmers have won 40 Big Ten individual titles across the distance events (200 FR, 500 FR, 1650 FR, 400 IM), with another ten coming on the 800-yard freestyle relay. The distance program was instrumental in helping Michigan win its national championship in 2013, as its swimmers held four of the top nine spots in the 1,650-yard freestyle and five of the top 16 spots in the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships. One month earlier at the 2013 Big Ten Championships, Michigan placed 1-2-3-4 in the 1,650-yard freestyle, 1-3-4-6-9 in the 500-yard freestyle and 1-2-3-4-6 in the 200-yard freestyle. Additionally, White tutored the 800-yard freestyle relay team of Connor Jaeger, Anders Lie Nielsen, Justin Glanda and Michael Wynalda to a then-NCAA record at the 2014 Big Ten Championships.
During the 2022 Season, White coached Olympian Jake Mitchell to three second-place finishes at the Big Ten Championships in the 500 free, 1650 free, and the 400 IM, and Jared Daigle claimed the Big Ten Title in the 400IM. At the NCAA Championships, Daigle finished 14th in the 400IM and the 800 free relay team finished 14th. On the women's side White helped coach Kathryn Ackerman, Kathryn Shanley, Kaitlynn Sims, Victoria Kwan, and Megan Glass qualify for the NCAA Championships. At the Big Ten Championships, he coached Ackerman to a fourth-place finish, Shanley to an 11th place finish, and Sims to a 15th-place finish in the 500 free. In the 1650 free, he helped Ackerman to a seventh place finish, Sims to an eighth place finish, and Shanley to a tenth place finish. In the 400 IM Ackerman and Kwan finished fourth and fifth and Claire Donan finished 14th.
In 2021, White coached the 800 free relay team to a Big Ten Title, Jake Mitchell to a title in the 500 free, and a second-place finish in 1650. At the NCAA Championships, he coached the 800 free relay team to an 11th place finish, Patrick Callan to a 13th place finish in the 500 free, and William Roberts to a 16th place finish in the 400 IM,Â
During his tenure, White has coached two national champions in Connor Jaeger (2013: 500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle; 2014: 1,650-yard freestyle) and Felix Auböck (2019: 1,650-yard freestyle). At the 2020 Big Ten Championships, White's swimmers held 13 'A' final spots in the distance events (1-2-3-8 in 500 FR, 1-2-4-6 in 1650 FR, 1-2-3-6-8 in 400 IM) and won the 800-yard freestyle relay. In 2018, three swimmers (Auböck, PJ Ransford, Ricardo Vargas) make the podium in the 1,650-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships. That year, Auböck was national runner-up in both the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles, while Vargas was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. In 2017, Auböck recorded the second-fastest mile time in history at the NCAA Championships (14:22.88) and was named both Big Ten Swimmer of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Ransford, a back-to-back NCAA Elite 90 Award winner, was named to the U.S. National Team in back-to-back years (2016-17, 2017-18) under White's guidance. Auböck repeated as Big Ten Swimmer of the Year in 2020.
Beyond the NCAA, Michigan distance swimmers have achieved great international success, led by Jaeger, a two-time U.S. Olympian and 2016 Olympic silver medalist in the 1,500-meter freestyle. White coached four of the top nine milers at the 2012 US Olympic Trials and three of the top 11 in 2016. After his appearance at the 2012 Olympics in London, Jaeger vaulted to the top of the American distance swimming scene, winning three NCAA titles, five medals in international meets and setting American records in both the 1,500-meter freestyle and 1,650-yard freestyle before retiring after the 2016 Olympics.
At the 2012 Olympic Games, White served as the head swimming coach for Barbados, coaching former University of Florida standout Bradley Ally in the 100-meter backstroke, and the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys.
Athletes coached by Dr. White have also had great success in Open Water competition. He was the head open water coach for the United States at the 2011 and 2013 World University Games, and was named an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2012 FINA Short Course World Championships. The biggest beneficiary of White's coaching is Sean Ryan, a multi-time U.S. National Team selection who qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio in the 10K race. Emily Brunemann, the 2008 NCAA champion in the 1,650-yard freestyle, was coached by White in 2009 when she won the 10K at the US National Championships and in 2010 when she placed third at the Pan-Pacific Championships. White also put Cameron Stitt on Team USA's roster for the 2015 World University Games.
Prior to his arrival in Ann Arbor, White was head coach of the men's and women's swimming teams at Division-III Pomona-Pitzer (Claremont, Calif.) from 2006-08.
In 2006, White attained his Ph.D. in human performance from Indiana University, studying in the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming. His graduate research focused on the power generated during swimming and swimming power training.
While pursuing his Ph.D. at IU, White spent three years as a volunteer assistant coach with the Hoosier men's swimming team. Additionally, White coached at Bloomington South (Ind.) High School and has club team experience with The Indiana Swim Team and Bloomington Swim Club.
