John Carroll enters his third season as Assistant Coach with the Seahawk coaching staff, starting with the program during the 2020-21 season following two seasons on the staff at Auburn.
The 2021-2022 season was a banner one for the Seahawks. Carroll and the Seahawk coaching staff were honored by the Colonial Athletic Association coaches as the Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year as the Seahawks breezed to their 14th CAA title. The team’s first title since the 2014 season. UNCW combined to win 16 events at the championship meet.
Carroll’s distance group thrived at the CAA Conference championship meet. The Seahawk’s came away with event victories on the men’s and women’s side in the 500 Free, 1650 Free, and 400 IM events. Brooke Knisley became the first Seahawk since Carly Tanner in 2013 to compete at the NCAA Championships. Knisely was the CAA Champion in the 200, 500 and 1650 Free, setting program records in each event. Four Seahawks earned major honors with Sam O’Brien (500 & 1650 Free CAA champion) and Katie Knorr (400 IM CAA champion) earning CAA Swimming Rookie of the Year honors.
Before UNCW, Carroll was a Graduate and Volunteer Assistant Coach with the Auburn Tigers. He worked primarily with the mid-distance and distance swimmers. Carroll assisted the staff with all facets of the program. He assisted with two SEC individual champions, 2 SEC relay champions, and multiple NCAA qualifiers.
Carroll began his collegiate coaching career as a Volunteer Assistant at Rowan University in 2016-17. That season, 11 swimmers qualified for NCAA Championships and the Owls finished 9th as a program. Alongside his time at Rowan University, John was also a full-time club coach with the Jersey Wahoos Swim Club. He worked with the senior and junior groups at Wahoos and helped send over 30 swimmers to the NCSA swim championships, where these swimmers broke over 70 team records.
Carroll, graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in 2016, where he earned a degree in History and a minor in Political Science. John helped the Retrievers to three conference championship titles. He served as a team captain during his senior season. John also earned a Master's degree in Education at Auburn in 2020.
