Coach John Westkott is in his 23rd season as head coach of both the men's and women's swim teams. He is the first coach at the Academy to coach both men and women and in his time has had marked success. The athletes in his program have represented the Academy well, and earned conference and national accolades.
In April of 2013, Westkott was inducted into the Rhode Island Aquatics Hall of Fame.
In John’s time at the Academy there have been over 50 different individuals achieve NCAA qualifying times, and over 50 school records have been broken. John has coached an NCAA champion, as well as many All-America selectees and honorable mention selectees. There have been four different swimmers selected as NEWMAC athletes of the year since 1999, and two of those were multiple year recipients of that award. The Coast Guard swimmers and divers are consistently some of the best performers at the conference championship and have earned team success.
John has been honored as NEWMAC Coach of the Year nine times and the men’s team has won six conference championship (1999, 2001, 2004 and 2006-2008). In 11 other seasons the men have been runners up at the NEWMAC meet including the last four straight.
The women's team has consistently improved to being within the top four finishers in recent years and won a school-record eight dual meets during the 2018-19 season and placed third at the NEWMAC Championship for the first time since 2003 after placing fifth in 2018 and sixth in 2017. The Bears women's team is 86-133-1 in 22 seasons.
The men's team has a pheonominal dual meet record of 161-45 for a winning percentage of .781 under Westkott.
Westkott has a combined men's and women's record of 247-178-1 in his 22 seasons at the academy.
The swimmers and divers also boast success in the classroom, with numerous Scholar All-American selections for individuals and as a program. The men won the prestigious Dean’s Trophy in 2011 for highest grade point average at the Academy. There have been many swimmers and divers selected for aviation training directly from the Academy, a prized posting for commissioned ensigns.
Coach Westkott states, “The goal for our program is to offer the individual a challenging environment that allows the athlete to develop in the sport, as well as a future officer and a student. The swimming and diving program has been able to have athletes show dramatic improvement and be successful within the corps of cadets.”
John arrived at the Academy after finishing his Master’s Degree in Education at Springfield College, where he was an assistant coach for the swimming and diving program, and teaching fellow for the Physical Education Department. John graduated with a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Rhode Island in English and History where he swam and played water polo. After graduating, he served as an assistant coach for URI as well as the Rams Swimming Club, the local USS team.
(updated Aug. 2021)
