Florida State University Athletics
Staff Directory
Studd, Neal
Neal Studd
- Title:
- Head Coach
2012 Olympic Coach
Three-time World Championship Coach (2011 Shanghai, 2013 Barcelona, 2017 Windsor)
28 All-American honors (at FSU)
Six ACC gold medals
26 ACC podium performances
Six-time CCSA Coach of the Year
Seven-time CCSA Champions
2015 NCAA Coach of the Meet (HM)
Seven All-American performances (at FGCU)
Seven CCSA Swimmers of the Meet
Three CCSA Swimmers of the Year
2013 Duane Swanson Jr. Inspirational Award
Married to his wife Leah and has two children, Henry and Sophia.
Â
Neal Studd became the eighth head coach of Florida State swimming and diving on July 20, 2016.
The six-time Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Coach of the Year brought a wealth of experience to Tallahassee after building Florida Gulf Coast University from scratch into one of the best mid-major programs in the country in his nine years at the helm.
Studd helped the men’s team to four top 25 finishes at the NCAA Championships since 2017, peaking at 14th at in 2019, tying the sixth highest performance in school history.
Since his arrival, FSU has produced 28 All-American performances between the lanes, including 14 from five-year standout Peter Varjasi between 2020-2024.  Since 2016, Studd’s swimmers have been responsible for 24 program records, including five in 2024.
Varjasi finished his storied career with three individual FSU records and a part of both medley relay records. He was the third Seminole in history and first since 2001 to final in five different individual events at the ACC Championships. He also won eight medals during his career, six of which were won as a freshman; the only rookie to accomplish the feat in school history.
Studd built the men’s relays into some of the fastest in the nation.  At the 2019 NCAA Championships, the team of Emir Muratovic, Izaak Bastian, Kanoa Kaleoaloha and Will Pisani placed seventh in the 200 medley relay, which is the highest finish at national for an FSU relay under Studd.
In 2024, the team of Max Wilson, Tommaso Baravelli, Tobias Schulrath and Varjasi broke the oldest relay record in the books (2014), earning second team All-American honors in the 400 medley relay at 3:03.82.
The Seminoles won four events at the 2019 ACC Championships as Kaleoaloha won the 100 free and 100 fly, setting the Greensboro Aquatic Center pool record (44.93). Pisani took home gold in the 50 free and both were a part of the 200 free relay team that topped the podium.
Despite graduating three legs from that relay, FSU defended the 200 free relay title in 2020 behind Varjasi, Griffin Alaniz, Jakub Ksiazek and Max McCusker.
The men’s team has also posted two back-to-back dual meet seasons (2020-21, 2021-22) during his tenure.
The women’s team has been represented at the NCAA Championships, producing two All-American second team honorees in each of the last two seasons.
Maddy Huggins also qualified for her second U.S. Olympic Trials in both the 100 and 200 breast in 2024. She finished 15th in the 100 breast at NCAAs in 2024 and Edith Jernstedt placed 13th in the 200 fly in 2023. Â
In 2020, the Seminoles captured three All-American nominations with Sydney VanOvermeiren (400 IM), Nina Kucheran (100 breast) and Aryanna Fernandes (100 fly).
In 2018-19, a pair of freshmen breaststrokers carried the Seminoles at the conference and national level, led by Ida Hulkko who finished fifth in the 100 breast at the NCAA Championship with the second fastest time in school history at 58.58 after taking bronze at ACCs. Kucheran also earned a trip to the NCAA Championships and took silver in the 200 breast in school record timing of 2:08.78. She later topped the FSU record in the 200 IM (1:56.68).
Outside of the pool, the women’s team has never missed the CSCAA Scholar All-America standard and has captured the Director’s Cup for Service Award twice, which is given to the FSU team that averages the most community service hours.
Lovemore was a two-time All-American second team member in the 100 fly, won ACC bronze in 2018, setting the FSU record in the event at 51.60. Her classmate Natalie Pierce won her first ACC title in the 100 breast and also secured silver in the 200 breast at 2:09.05, becoming the fastest breaststroker in FSU history at the time.
Studd has also built a consistent presence of Seminoles competing on the international level. In 2023, five athletes with ties to the program competed at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Qatar after seven competed at the 2023 Worlds in Fukuoka, Japan. In fact, a FSU swimmer has competed at every World Championships since 2019.
Bastian, Julio Horrego, Muratovic, and Hulkko all competed at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Five Seminoles competed at the 2019 World University Games with Tayla Lovemore winning gold in the 50m and 100m fly and Kucheran earning bronze in the 4×100 medley relay for Team Canada.
Studd wasted no time in 2016-17, getting to work, helping the FSU men’s team improve to a fifth place finish at the ACC Championships, while helping the women score over 100 more points at the meet than a season ago.
The women were highlighted by Pierce, who placed fourth in the 100 breast at the NCAA Championships in school record timing of 58.25 after missing out on an invitation to the meet in 2016. Pierce went on to also place fourth at the World Championship Trials in the 50m breast in the summer of 2017.
Prior to FSU, Studd captured seven CCSA Championships in eight years, guiding the Eagles to a 32-1 conference dual record since the program’s 2007-08 inception, when FGCU became a Division I institution.
His program celebrated its finest season in 2014-15, finishing 26th at the NCAA Championships with 37.5 points behind three individual scoring performances and the school’s first All-American relay finish. For his efforts, he received Coach of the Meet honorable mention accolades.
In 2014-15 the Eagles posted wins over three ACC teams (FSU, Notre Dame, Miami) while 2016 CCSA Swimmer of the Year, Elise Haan, took home three conference titles and earned All-America honorable mention with a 16th place finish in the 100 back.
Studd coached several standouts during his nine seasons, but none were more decorated than Emma Svensson, who finished her career with four NCAA appearances which included a pair All-America honorable mention accolades in the 50 free, finishing 12th at both the 2014 and 2015 Championships. Svensson also captured the Elite 89 honor at the 2013 meet, which is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA. She was also selected as the 2015 CCSA Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Among a plethora of honors, Svensson was inducted into the FGCU Hall of Fame following the 2014-15 season.
Kira Toussaint brought home the program’s first All-American performance in 2014, finishing seventh in the 100 back at the NCAA Championships and later earned the 2014 CCSA Swimmer of the Year accolades. She followed her rookie campaign with an eighth place showing in the 100 back and 12th place finish in the 200 back in 2015.
Prior to FGCU, Studd spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Florida Atlantic. He returned to FAU after spending one year with the Wall Street firm of Morgan Stanley following his graduation in 1998.
Studd coached St. Lucia at the 2012 Olympic Games as well as the 2011 FINA World Championships. He then moved on to coach Barbados at the 2013 World Championships.
A native of Ipswich, United Kingdom, Studd was the national junior champion, team captain and record-holder in the 200m free. He competed at FAU from 1994-98 where he was the men’s team captain and Olympic Trials qualifier.
He graduated from FAU in 1998 with a B.S. in finance before earning his MBA from FAU in 2002. Studd and his wife Leah have two children, Henry and Sophia.
Â
Three-time World Championship Coach (2011 Shanghai, 2013 Barcelona, 2017 Windsor)
28 All-American honors (at FSU)
Six ACC gold medals
26 ACC podium performances
Six-time CCSA Coach of the Year
Seven-time CCSA Champions
2015 NCAA Coach of the Meet (HM)
Seven All-American performances (at FGCU)
Seven CCSA Swimmers of the Meet
Three CCSA Swimmers of the Year
2013 Duane Swanson Jr. Inspirational Award
Married to his wife Leah and has two children, Henry and Sophia.
Â
Neal Studd became the eighth head coach of Florida State swimming and diving on July 20, 2016.
The six-time Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Coach of the Year brought a wealth of experience to Tallahassee after building Florida Gulf Coast University from scratch into one of the best mid-major programs in the country in his nine years at the helm.
Studd helped the men’s team to four top 25 finishes at the NCAA Championships since 2017, peaking at 14th at in 2019, tying the sixth highest performance in school history.
Since his arrival, FSU has produced 28 All-American performances between the lanes, including 14 from five-year standout Peter Varjasi between 2020-2024.  Since 2016, Studd’s swimmers have been responsible for 24 program records, including five in 2024.
Varjasi finished his storied career with three individual FSU records and a part of both medley relay records. He was the third Seminole in history and first since 2001 to final in five different individual events at the ACC Championships. He also won eight medals during his career, six of which were won as a freshman; the only rookie to accomplish the feat in school history.
Studd built the men’s relays into some of the fastest in the nation.  At the 2019 NCAA Championships, the team of Emir Muratovic, Izaak Bastian, Kanoa Kaleoaloha and Will Pisani placed seventh in the 200 medley relay, which is the highest finish at national for an FSU relay under Studd.
In 2024, the team of Max Wilson, Tommaso Baravelli, Tobias Schulrath and Varjasi broke the oldest relay record in the books (2014), earning second team All-American honors in the 400 medley relay at 3:03.82.
The Seminoles won four events at the 2019 ACC Championships as Kaleoaloha won the 100 free and 100 fly, setting the Greensboro Aquatic Center pool record (44.93). Pisani took home gold in the 50 free and both were a part of the 200 free relay team that topped the podium.
Despite graduating three legs from that relay, FSU defended the 200 free relay title in 2020 behind Varjasi, Griffin Alaniz, Jakub Ksiazek and Max McCusker.
The men’s team has also posted two back-to-back dual meet seasons (2020-21, 2021-22) during his tenure.
The women’s team has been represented at the NCAA Championships, producing two All-American second team honorees in each of the last two seasons.
Maddy Huggins also qualified for her second U.S. Olympic Trials in both the 100 and 200 breast in 2024. She finished 15th in the 100 breast at NCAAs in 2024 and Edith Jernstedt placed 13th in the 200 fly in 2023. Â
In 2020, the Seminoles captured three All-American nominations with Sydney VanOvermeiren (400 IM), Nina Kucheran (100 breast) and Aryanna Fernandes (100 fly).
In 2018-19, a pair of freshmen breaststrokers carried the Seminoles at the conference and national level, led by Ida Hulkko who finished fifth in the 100 breast at the NCAA Championship with the second fastest time in school history at 58.58 after taking bronze at ACCs. Kucheran also earned a trip to the NCAA Championships and took silver in the 200 breast in school record timing of 2:08.78. She later topped the FSU record in the 200 IM (1:56.68).
Outside of the pool, the women’s team has never missed the CSCAA Scholar All-America standard and has captured the Director’s Cup for Service Award twice, which is given to the FSU team that averages the most community service hours.
Lovemore was a two-time All-American second team member in the 100 fly, won ACC bronze in 2018, setting the FSU record in the event at 51.60. Her classmate Natalie Pierce won her first ACC title in the 100 breast and also secured silver in the 200 breast at 2:09.05, becoming the fastest breaststroker in FSU history at the time.
Studd has also built a consistent presence of Seminoles competing on the international level. In 2023, five athletes with ties to the program competed at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Qatar after seven competed at the 2023 Worlds in Fukuoka, Japan. In fact, a FSU swimmer has competed at every World Championships since 2019.
Bastian, Julio Horrego, Muratovic, and Hulkko all competed at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Five Seminoles competed at the 2019 World University Games with Tayla Lovemore winning gold in the 50m and 100m fly and Kucheran earning bronze in the 4×100 medley relay for Team Canada.
Studd wasted no time in 2016-17, getting to work, helping the FSU men’s team improve to a fifth place finish at the ACC Championships, while helping the women score over 100 more points at the meet than a season ago.
The women were highlighted by Pierce, who placed fourth in the 100 breast at the NCAA Championships in school record timing of 58.25 after missing out on an invitation to the meet in 2016. Pierce went on to also place fourth at the World Championship Trials in the 50m breast in the summer of 2017.
Prior to FSU, Studd captured seven CCSA Championships in eight years, guiding the Eagles to a 32-1 conference dual record since the program’s 2007-08 inception, when FGCU became a Division I institution.
His program celebrated its finest season in 2014-15, finishing 26th at the NCAA Championships with 37.5 points behind three individual scoring performances and the school’s first All-American relay finish. For his efforts, he received Coach of the Meet honorable mention accolades.
In 2014-15 the Eagles posted wins over three ACC teams (FSU, Notre Dame, Miami) while 2016 CCSA Swimmer of the Year, Elise Haan, took home three conference titles and earned All-America honorable mention with a 16th place finish in the 100 back.
Studd coached several standouts during his nine seasons, but none were more decorated than Emma Svensson, who finished her career with four NCAA appearances which included a pair All-America honorable mention accolades in the 50 free, finishing 12th at both the 2014 and 2015 Championships. Svensson also captured the Elite 89 honor at the 2013 meet, which is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA. She was also selected as the 2015 CCSA Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Among a plethora of honors, Svensson was inducted into the FGCU Hall of Fame following the 2014-15 season.
Kira Toussaint brought home the program’s first All-American performance in 2014, finishing seventh in the 100 back at the NCAA Championships and later earned the 2014 CCSA Swimmer of the Year accolades. She followed her rookie campaign with an eighth place showing in the 100 back and 12th place finish in the 200 back in 2015.
Prior to FGCU, Studd spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Florida Atlantic. He returned to FAU after spending one year with the Wall Street firm of Morgan Stanley following his graduation in 1998.
Studd coached St. Lucia at the 2012 Olympic Games as well as the 2011 FINA World Championships. He then moved on to coach Barbados at the 2013 World Championships.
A native of Ipswich, United Kingdom, Studd was the national junior champion, team captain and record-holder in the 200m free. He competed at FAU from 1994-98 where he was the men’s team captain and Olympic Trials qualifier.
He graduated from FAU in 1998 with a B.S. in finance before earning his MBA from FAU in 2002. Studd and his wife Leah have two children, Henry and Sophia.
Â
WR Jayvan Boggs: "He works like a pro"
Wednesday, September 17
DL Mandrell Desir: "He's that guy"
Wednesday, September 17
HC Mike Norvell: "He is a remarkable person"
Wednesday, September 17
OL Richie Leonard IV: "Find ways to get better"
Tuesday, September 16
