STATESBORO, Ga. - Collin Vest has been named the new diving coach for the Georgia Southern women's swimming & diving team, announced today by head coach Amanda Caldwell.

Vest comes to Statesboro from Clarion University, where he competed for four seasons for the Eagles and captured four individual NCAA Division II National Championships - winning the 1 meter event three times (2014, 2015 & 2017) and the 3 meter event once (2016). His score of 564.25 in the 2015 event was the best score at the NCAA DII National Championships in more than 20 years. Vest was an eight-time All-American at Clarion and graduated from the university with his bachelor's degree in education in 2017.

"The big thing that I plan on bringing to Georgia Southern is the way that we competed and practiced," Vest said. "We always practiced hard, and we went into competitions with the mindset that we were the hardest working team there. Every day was a competition between each other, so that when we got to meets, it was just like another practice. I hope to transition that here, so when our divers go to competitions, they feel relaxed, they're having fun and enjoying the sport but they know they can be the top divers there."

While a student-athlete at Clarion, Vest taught diving lessons through the school's "Learn To Swim" program from 2013-17. He also coached at the Westminster Dive Camp during 2016 and 2017.

"I knew right away that Collin would be a good fit to lead our divers and support our program as a whole," coach Caldwell said. "In the time that I have gotten to know him, his passion for the sport and teaching matches what we are looking to build this program on."

Georgia Southern swimming and diving returns 24 student-athletes from last season's squad, including three divers - Katie Knight, Gretchen Mossburg and Sara Rogers - who advanced to the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships in March.