The Texas Lady Longhorns are trading in their Stetsons for a Cap. Carol Capitani, the longtime women's assistant coach at the University of Georgia, has reportedly been offered and accepted the head coaching position for the women's team at Texas.
Like her predecessor Kim Brackin, Capitani comes from a powerhouse SEC squad and has mainly been an assistant coach, but unlike Brackin, Capitani has had a much more solid track record of success at the collegiate level.
Whereas Brackin has primarily worked with women's teams, Capitani worked with both men and women at Georgia, helping the team to six top-ten finishes on the men's side, and four national titles and three runner up titles on the women's.
Capitani had a storied career as an eight-time All-American breaststroker and IMmer at Cal Berkeley, and though she can work with any stroke group, she's done a phenomenal job with Georgia's breaststroke corps in particular. Jana Mangimelli converted from a 200 backstroker/IMmer to a 2:09 200 breaststroker this year, and Neil Versfeld still holds the NCAA record in the same event. No doubt that Texas breaststroke specialists Laura Sogar and Gretchen Jaques in particular will benefit greatly from having her expertise on deck.
Capitani has had the midas touch anywhere she's been thus far, even helping lead Villanova to their first NCAA qualifiers in years before her time in Athens, and she's a very well-respected coach amongst her peers. It remains to be seen how she'll do helming her own program, but if her past record is any indication, the Longhorns may finally reach their full potential in the very near future.