Wolfpack Swimming & Diving Adds Rebecca Westfall to Coaching Staff
9/16/2021 12:36:00 PM | Swimming
RALEIGH – NC State swimming and diving has added coaching veteran Rebecca Westfall to its staff as an assistant coach, as announced by head coach Braden Holloway on Thursday.
"I am very excited to welcome Rebecca to our Wolfpack family," said Holloway. "I have seen Rebecca grow in this profession for many years, and I have been extremely impressed. She understands the process of creating and maintaining an elite program while also cultivating relationships and nurturing culture. Her reputation among her colleagues and peers in the sport is outstanding. We are thrilled to be adding not just a quality coach but also an amazing person to our program."
Westfall comes to NC State following two seasons as an assistant coach at Alabama. She brings 12 years of Division I, II, III and club coaching experience with her to Raleigh, with some of her more recent coaching stints occurring at UNC Asheville, Indiana State and Pitt.
"I'm thankful for the opportunity to be joining Coach Holloway and the rest of his staff at NC State," said Westfall. "Braden has developed the Pack family into one of the elite swimming and diving programs in the country, and I'm excited to be a part of the next steps in its development into a national championship team. Go Pack!"
While at Alabama, Westfall was tasked with a sprint/middle distance hybrid training group, and she was also responsible for all on-campus recruiting, social media promotions, equipment and team culture building. She helped lead the women's team to meteoric improvement during which the squad improved from 11th in the SEC and 34th in the NCAA to fourth in the league and fifth in the nation. Westfall also played a role in coaching Alabama to its first-ever women's relay national title in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
In her first year at Alabama, Westfall saw 24 student-athletes qualify for the NCAA Championships and 22 swimmers and divers earn a total of 57 All-America honors. Most recently in 2020-21, Westfall helped lead Alabama to 12 individual finals swims and eight top-16 relay finishes in addition to the relay title at NCAAs.
Prior to her time in Tuscaloosa, Westfall served as an assistant coach at Pittsburgh for two years. While with the Panthers, the team broke 29 school records and rose in the ranks of the ACC. Westfall spent the 2016-17 season as an assistant coach for the inaugural swimming and diving program at Indiana State.
She also coached two seasons at UNC Asheville, helping the Bulldogs post program-best finishes in the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Championships in both seasons. Prior to that, she was at Warren Wilson College in Swannona, N.C. for two years and served as interim head coach and aquatics director at Emory & Henry College in Emory, Va., in 2011-12.
Westfall began her full-time coaching career at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo., serving as the director of swimming and aquatics for two years.
Westfall completed her collegiate swimming career at Texas A&M, where she was an eight-time All-American for the Aggies. She won a total of nine Big 12 event titles from 2003 to 2007, and she helped her team win its first Big 12 team title in 2007. Westfall spent time in College Station as a student assistant coach following her senior season. She graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor's degree in sport management and minors in history and business.
Westfall specializes in biomechanics and swimming technique, and she has published a series of articles on kinetic energy and movement through water.
She and her husband James have two children - a son, Wade, and a daughter, Claire.
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