Swimming and diving head coach Brian Thomas announced his completed coaching staff this past Thursday, according to an Athletic Department release.
Christopher Lane will take over as head diving coach while Temarie Tomley will serve as an assistant coach for the 2021-22 season. The duo joins new assistant coach Mike Sullivan who joined the staff in late August.
“I couldn’t be happier with how our staff has taken shape,” Thomas said in the release. “I’ve always tried to surround our student-athletes with coaches that prioritize the person above the athlete, and I think we’ve achieved that here. In addition, for all three coaches to have experience within the Power 5 gives us a distinct advantage within the Atlantic 10 and beyond. Each will bring a wealth of knowledge, care and commitment to our pool deck.”
Lane has spent the last two years as a volunteer coach for the Colonials while pursuing his MPH at the Milken Institute School of Public Health.
He was recently selected by USA Diving to serve on staff for the UANA Junior Pan American Diving Championships which will be held next month in Tucson, Arizona. He also serves as the head coach for the Monumental Dive Club, where he trained top junior divers.
An experienced collegiate diver, Lane was a Pac-10 finalist and NCAA Zones qualifier during his time at Arizona. Lane will look to fill the shoes of former head diving coach Wesley Mattice who earned the A-10 Men’s Diving Coach of the Year award in 2020 and the program’s fourth A-10 title victory in five seasons.
“I’m thrilled to be stepping into the role of head diving coach here at GW,” Lane said in the release. “I look forward to continuing the tradition of excellence within the diving program.”
Tomley, a two-time All-American swimmer at Alabama and a top-30 qualifier for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials as a sophomore, joins the Colonials after spending a year as the aquatics director and head swim coach at the Country Club of Mobile in Alabama where she oversaw a roster of 150 swimmers.
“Temarie will be an excellent addition to our staff and is exactly what we were looking for when the search began,” Thomas said. “It was clear early on in our discussions that Temarie has a passion for coaching and will be able to pull from some of the best minds in the sport to help our student-athletes achieve at a high level, especially given her experience at Alabama.”
Tomley competed as a sprinter at Alabama, competing in the relays at the NCAA national meet three times in 2015, 2016 and 2018. She took part in the SEC Championships all four years, including three appearances in the U.S. Open. Her personal-best records in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free still remain in Alabama’s top 10 all-time.
“It’s clear the program has an atmosphere of excellence that I’m excited to contribute to,” Tomley said in the release. “I love working with swimmers and am looking forward to building them as better students in the classroom, athletes in the pool and as young adults in life, and I’m eager to work with the coaching staff to take it to the next level.”
The Colonials are set to host Virginia Tech Oct. 2 to begin the 2021-22 season.
