Posted July 27 2001, 01:36 pm
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Former University of North Carolina All-American Leslie Ramsey has accepted an offer to become Wittenberg University’s new men’s and women’s swimming and diving head coach. She succeeds Bob Rueppel, who resigned in May after six years as the Tigers’ head coach to accept the same position at Franklin & Marshall College.
Ramsey has been an assistant men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach at the University of Kentucky since 1996, responsible for planning and organizing fundraisers and training trips, coaching weekly workouts and serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator. During that time, the Wildcats have consistently ranked among the top teams in the Southeast Conference and in the top-25 nationally.
Her other professional experience includes serving as assistant coach of the Wildcat Aquatics Swim Team, head coach of the Copperfield Swim Team, and instructor with the Kentucky Stroke Clinic and Swim Camps, all in Lexington, Ky. She also accompanied UK Head Coach Gary Conelly on a coaching trip to Germany in 1996, and she traveled to eastern Africa in 1997 on a teaching excursion.
Ramsey enjoyed tremendous success in her collegiate career at the University of North Carolina. She was an NCAA Division I All-American in 1992, ’94 and ’95, took home Atlantic Coast Conference Swimmer of the Year honors in 1995, was named Most Valuable Swimmer of her team in 1994 and was an Olympic Trial finalist in the 200-yard butterfly in 1996, in which she finished 14th. In addition, Ramsey was an All-ACC Academic Honor Roll student in 1994 and ’95, and she was named Most Dedicated Swimmer on the UNC team each of those years.
"I’m excited about coming to Wittenberg," Ramsey said. "I think this will be an exciting transitional year for all of us, and I look forward to getting started with things."
Ramsey, who has a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sports science from UNC and a master’s degree in sports management from UK, takes over a Wittenberg team on the rise. The men’s and women’s teams both finished fourth in the North Coast Athletic Conference, the most competitive NCAA Division III conference in the nation, in 2001 with the best point totals in school history. Eight swimmers — four men and four women — earned berths in the 2001 NCAA Championship Meet in March, including six who are expected to return for the 2001-02 season.
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