Swimming & Diving
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
- neilv@sports.uga.edu
- Phone:
- 706-542-7946
Neil Versfeld, a standout swimmer on both the collegiate and international stages, recently completed his third season as the head coach of the Georgia men’s swimming and diving team. Versfeld previously served for three seasons as Associate Head Coach for Georgia swimming and diving, working primarily with breaststroke and distance swimmers.
Head Coach (2022-pres.)
In his debut season as head coach, Versfeld led Georgia to a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championships and a fifth-place finish at SEC Championships. The Bulldogs earned 18 All-America citations, including a pair of First Team citations for senior Ian Grum and junior Jake Magahey. In Minneapolis, Grum set his second 200 backstroke school record of the season, while the 200 medley relay also set a new top mark. At SECs, senior Bradley Dunham earned his first conference title in the 200 backstroke, while Magahey picked up silvers in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle.
In his second season, Versfeld saw Georgia improve to third in the SEC and 11th in the NCAA. Magahey earned three First Team citations, finishing third in the 500y freestyle and fifth in the 400y IM and joining teammates Tomas Koski, Zach Hils, and Dunham for a fifth-place finish in the 800y free relay. Earlier at SECs, the quartet posted the second-fastest time in program history in a silver medal performance. Dunham earned his first individual podium finish with a sixth-place finish in the 200y backstroke, along with breaking his own school record in the event. Sophomore Ruard van Renen also received First Team accolades with a seventh-place time in the 100y backstroke.
Graduate Dillon Downing concluded his Georgia career with four Second Team citations, including an individual honor in the 50y freestyle, while fifth-year Ian Grum earned honors in the 400y IM and 200y backstroke. In relay competition, graduate Miles Simon, senior Wesley Ng, and juniors Reese Branzell and Arie Voloschin earned All-America honors. At SECs, Branzell made history by breaking Luca Urlando’s school record in the 100y freestyle and helping the 400y freestyle relay set a new best mark, later topped in the closing event of NCAAs.
In his third season, Georgia took a solid leap up the standings, finishing seventh at the NCAA Championships and fourth at the SEC Championships. At NCAAs, the Bulldogs earned their first top-10 finish in three seasons despite only qualifying five swimmers for the meet, the fewest of all programs in the top 10. Urlando set a new American and NCAA record in the 200 butterfly, becoming the first swimmer to finish sub-1:37 in the event, while also finishing third in the 100 butterfly with a new school record. Magahey reached the championship finals in all three of his events, giving him six different A final events in his career, while also finishing his career with 13 sub-4:10 times in the 500 freestyle. van Renen set a new school record in the 200 backstroke and finished third in the 100 backstroke, posting three of the fastest four times in school history in one day. Urlando, Magahey joined Branzell and Koski to place third in the 800 freestyle relay with the Bulldogs' other three relays each setting new school records, including the first podium for the 400 medley relay since 2018.
Associate Head Coach (2019-22)
Versfeld’s first season on staff saw one of the strongest breaststroke groups in program history, with Zoie Hartman and Danielle Della Torre finishing in the top two of both breaststroke events at the SEC Championships. Both swimmers posted top-10 national times and earned All-America citations, with Hartman setting a new school record in the 100 breaststroke three times during the season. The pair was joined by fellow All-Americans Sofia Carnevale, who won both B finals at SECs, and Ashley McCauley. On the distance side, Greg Reed earned a silver medal in the 1,650 freestyle at SECs, followed by Walker Higgins and Aaron Apel in the top 10 finishers.
In his second season, Hartman and Della Torre continued their dominance, while senior Jack Dalmolin earned an SEC silver medal in the 200 breaststroke and was named an All-American. In distance, Magahey finished second overall at SECs and NCAAs, while Reed and freshman Tommy-Lee Camblong finished top-16 in the mile at NCAAs.
In the 2021-22 season, Hartman once again earned All-America honors in both breaststroke events, while Della Torre and freshman Angharad Evans qualified for NCAAs. In the mile, Magahey returned to the podium with a second-place finish at SECs and fourth-place time at NCAA, while freshman Abby McCulloh placed third at SECs and fifth at NCAAs. McCulloh was joined at NCAAs by graduate Peyton Palsha and freshman Rachel Stege.
Versfeld began his coaching career as an assistant for the Seals Swimming Club in South Africa and then spent two years at SwimAtlanta. From 2015-19, Versfeld was as an assistant coach for four years at Georgia Tech under Courtney Shealy Hart, another former Georgia standout. During his time at Tech, Versfeld coached multiple NCAA qualifiers and ACC- and school-record holders.
Prior to Coaching
During his career, Versfeld competed for Georgia in 2006, 2007, and 2009. He won the NCAA title in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2009, and he swept the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke titles at the 2009 SEC Championships. When he completed his career for the Bulldogs, Versfeld held the NCAA, U.S. Open, and Georgia record in the 200-yard breaststroke, along with the school mark in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Versfeld represented South Africa in several international competitions, including the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where he was a semifinalist in the 200-meter breaststroke. He came in fourth in the 2010 World Championships and was a semifinalist in the 2009 and 2011 Worlds.
Personal
Versfeld graduated from Georgia in 2010 with a degree in Housing. He was a CSCAA All-American Scholar and a member of the SEC and UGA academic honor rolls. He is married to the former Michelle McKeehan, who was a 10-time All-American for Georgia from 2009-12. She won the SEC title in 200-yard breaststroke in 2012. The couple welcomed a daughter, Charlize, in September 2021.
