Whitney Hite Hometown: Denver, Colo. Position: Head Coach Experience: Third Season Alma Mater: Texas '97

Whitney L. Hite enters his third season as the Washington head swimming coach after being named to the position on September 11, 2006. A former swimmer at the University of Texas, this is Hite's first head coaching job after a five-year stint at the University of Georgia (1999-2003) and most recently as an assistant coach with the University of California women (2004-06).

In his first year, Hite led the Husky women to a 35th place finish at the 2006 NCAA Women's National Championships after Kim Jasmer earned All-America honors in the 500 free and the 1650 free. It was the first time since 2003 the UW women had scored points at the NCAA Championships. In addition, his men's team finished with a 2-3 dual meet record and the UW women went 3-3 in dual meets.

His immediate success paid off when he signed perhaps the best recruiting class in decades at Washington. The headliner of the 2007-08 class was Ariana Kukors, who went on to become a three-time All-American, a Pac-10 champion in the 200 and 400 IM and broke six school records in 2007-08 en route to being named the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year in her freshman season.

Kukors and a handful of much-improved returners in Hite's second season went on to finish a program-best 12th at the NCAA Championships. They sent a record eight individuals to the national event, with Kukors and Erin Campbell bringing home four All-American honors combined, the most for the women since 1985. The men also showed great improvement, winning seven dual meets, while Evan Bernier broke one school record and tied another in his first season as a Husky.

Hite is the seventh men's head coach in Washington's 76-year history and the third women's head coach that enters its 35th season of competition.

At California, Hite helped lead the Golden Bears to three top-10 finishes at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. California placed sixth at the NCAAs in 2004, eighth in 2005, and fourth in 2006. He also assisted the Golden Bears in an undefeated dual meet season in 2005-06, going 11-0 overall and 7-0 in the Pac-10. Cal posted 9-2 dual meet records in both 2005 and 2004.

During his first season at California, the Golden Bears recorded their first dual meet victory over Stanford in 27 years and ended up going 2-1 against the Cardinal during his tenure.

With the Golden Bears, Hite coached three U.S. National Team members, including Erin Reilly (2007 World University Games), Lauren Medina (2006 World University Games) and Ashley Chandler (2006 World University Games). He also coached the 2003 800 freestyle relay national championship team and assisted with Natalie Coughlin, who is considered one of the greatest swimmers in women's history.

Four swimmers also achieved All-America honors at Cal under Hite's tutelage.

Before joining the California staff, Hite served as an assistant coach with the University of Georgia for five seasons. With the Bulldogs, Hite helped Georgia's women's team to three straight national championships, from 1999-2001. In 2002 and 2003, Georgia finished as NCAA runner-up. Hite also assisted with Georgia's men's swimming team, helping the Bulldogs to top-15 national finishes in each season under his guidance.

While Hite was an assistant at Georgia, the Bulldogs dominated the Southeastern Conference. In 2003, Georgia swimmers Robert Margalis and Mary DeScenza were named SEC Swimmer and SEC Freshman of the Year, respectively. Also that season, Hite also helped coach one the greatest swimmers in Georgia's history in sprint freestyler Maritza Correia. With 11 national titles (five individual and six relays) to her credit, Correia holds more NCAA hardware than any other swimmer in Lady Bulldog history.

A Denver, Colo. native, Hite was a four-year swimmer on the University of Texas swimming team. He swam sprint freestyle for the Longhorns and graduated with a B.S. in Sports Management from Texas in the spring of 1997. He earned his master's degree in Education from Georgia in 2001.

Hite is an avid sports fan and a competitive runner, and has completed eight marathons. He is also a bacterial meningitis survivor after contracting the life-threatening illness the summer after his junior year at Texas.