Coaching Staff
Scott Whitbeck
Head Coach
Scott Whitbeck begins his second season as the head men's and women's swim coach in the 2009-10 season. Whitbeck made an immediate impact as he helped the Hawks re-write the record board in his first season as head coach. The women set nine varsity records and won three individual SUNYAC titles, setting new conference and meet records in the two events. Sophomores Marissa Morris and Christine Reith qualified for the NCAA Championships as the Hawks made their fifth consecutive trip to the national pool. On the men’s side, the team set six new varsity records and one SUNYAC meet and conference record while placing third at the SUNYAC Championship, their highest finish since 2003.
Prior to New Paltz, Whitbeck spent two seasons as the assistant coach at NCAA Division I UMass. Whitbeck assisted the Minutemen with all aspects of running a perennially successful Atlantic 10 program including training, stroke technique, recruiting and meet preparation. The men's team won the Atlantic 10 championship both seasons while the women finished second and fourth. Twelve varsity records were set during his two seasons as an assistant.
Before UMASS, Whitbeck served as the assistant coach/aquatics director at the College of Wooster for two seasons where he coached the 2005 NCAA Champion in the 1650 Free. In addition, he spearheaded the recruitment of fifty athletes to the program, maintained the aquatic facility, and directed a triathlon. Whitbeck has worked three summers as a swim counselor at the University of Michigan Swim Camps and assisted the NCAA Div. III meet director in running the NCAA Swim Championships in 2005, 2006 and most recently in 2008.
Whitbeck spent four seasons on the varsity swim team at Kalamazoo College where he was a 12-time NCAA All-American, three-time NCAA Academic All-American, named team captain, and elected as the team's Most Valuable Swimmer in 2004. In addition to swimming, he also earned an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship and a Charles Monroe departmental award in Economics. Since graduation, Whitbeck has stayed active in swimming through US Masters, winning two open water National Championships and currently holds the 3000 yard freestyle national record.
Whitbeck received a bachelor's degree from Kalamazoo in 2004 and completed two master degree programs; one in Business Administration and the other in Sports Management, at UMASS in 2008.
Contact Scott Whitbeck at ext. 2671 or whitbecs@newpaltz.edu.