First swimming, diving coach hired

_{Betsy Graham is the first Women’s Swimming & Diving head coach in UTRGV program history. Graham has over 30 years of coaching experience, with the last four being with the University of Texas Permian Basin. During a news conference Tuesday, Graham said she looks forward to being part of UTRGV and to “creating a great program from this first year.”Natalie Lapsley/THE RIDER}

The UTRGV Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the hiring of Betsy Graham, the first Women’s Swimming & Diving head coach.

During an online news conference March 20, Graham said she is grateful for the opportunity of being the first head coach for the program.

The women’s swimming and diving season is set to start in the Fall 2024 semester with approximately 35 athletes.

Graham has over 30 years of coaching experience, with her last stint at the University of Texas Permian Basin for four years.

The former swimmer said having a Division I program in the region would create opportunities for local talent instead of forcing them to attend schools further away.

“In my career, I grew up in Kingsville, Texas,” Graham said. “If I’d had a Division I program that was closer to my home, I would have certainly looked at it hard instead of going 10 or 12 hours away from home. I could have gone two hours from home and that would have been perfect.”

Chasse Conque, vice president and director of Athletics, said it is an exciting time for UTRGV.

“Here we are starting yet another program at UTRGV,” Conque said. “Starting Women’s Swimming & Diving, the search was a fun one to work through. … One thing that’s unique that coach Graham will have to tackle early on is we’re going to compete this fall.”

Graham said her previous experience has prepared her for the task at hand.

“I think it gave me a great foundation to know what I was looking forward to doing right,” she said. “Picking the great kids, I recruit from all over, but I certainly will be recruiting from South Texas. … These people that become Vaqueros are going to be the people who set the foundation and will lead the team on as we go from year to year.”

Graham said the challenge now is that most of recruiting for 2024 is done. 

“In the last couple of days, I have found some very good recruits and talent still looking for a home, and I believe that we may be small right away but we can only get bigger and better as we go on,” she said.

Graham said when looking at student athletes she likes to look at their academics and swimming times.

“First and foremost, you are going to be a student in my program,” she said. “I look for the athletes who have a strong background in academics and want to [go] further, because they are going to be the people that want to get their degree, be good in the pool, and just be all-around good people.”

The coach said next up for Women’s Swimming & Diving is to look at the recruits she has lined up and start developing the program. 

_{Women’s Swimming & Diving head coach Betsy Graham is shown during a news conference Tuesday welcoming UTRGV’s switch to the Southland Conference. Natalie Lapsley/THE RIDER}