UMass women’s swimming: Maiya Otsuka named acting head coach

UMass named longtime assistant Maiya Otsuka the acting head coach of the women’s swim team on Monday, per release.

Sean Clark had coached the men’s and women’s teams since his appointment in 2020 as director of men’s and women’s swimming and diving and will remain the head coach of the men’s team.

Otsuka served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the women’s team from 2015 until 2020, when women’s head coach Bob Newcomb retired after 36 years at the helm of the program. In 2020, Clark was hired as director of both the men’s and women’s programs and Otsuka became assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for both teams.

“I have tremendous excitement and am so grateful to [AD] Ryan [Bamford] and the senior administrators for giving me the opportunity to be the next leader of the women's swimming and diving program,” Otsuka said in a statement. “I am personally elated to continue working with a very determined, motivated and talented group of young women at the University of Massachusetts. Go UMass!"

As an assistant, Otsuka coached swimmers to a combined 20 school records, three pool records and 24 top-three Atlantic 10 finishes. She worked to develop and implement season plans for the individual medley, middle distance and stroke groups.

Otsuka swam at Utah from 2007-2011 and holds the school records in the 200 breaststroke, 400 individual medley and 400 medley relay. She spent a fifth year at Utah as an assistant coach and then earned her master’s degree from Texas A&M while serving as a volunteer assistant from 2012-2014. She spent fall 2014 with UConn as an intern assistant before taking the UMass assistant coach job in September 2015.