The FGCU swim team head coach Dave Rollins added assistant coach Melissa Steele and volunteer assistant Jack Fichenkaub to the Eagles’ coaching staff.
“We received an incredible amount of interest in our assistant coach position, and we are very excited to have Melissa joining our Eagle family,” said head coach Dave Rollins. “Her experience is exactly what we were looking for, and we cannot wait to have Melissa help the program reach new heights.”
Steele spent the last three seasons at the University of Arkansas, where she was the graduate assistant coach under head coach Neil Harper.  Steele was then promoted to an assistant coach last June.
Eichenlaub served as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Miami University (Ohio) during the men’s and women’s swimming seasons.
“Having someone of Jack’s experience and knowledge is more than we could ask for in our volunteer position,” Rollins said. “His passion for our sport will help our program continue to grow and reach new levels of success.”
Together, Steele and Eichenlaub bring six years of collegiate coaching experience and eight years of collegiate swimming experience.
During her time at Arkansas, Steele assisted with on-deck coaching as well as administrative duties.
Under Steele, eight school records were broken and 15 swimmers advanced to the NCAA Championships in her three seasons with the program.
Prior to Arkansas, Steele served as an assistant age group coach for the Bolles School Sharks in Jacksonville, Florida, from 2013-14.
Steele graduated with a degree in Elementary Education from the University of Louisville in 2012 where she was a four-year letter winner, earning the Big East All-Academic Team honors in 2011 and 2012.
Ending her season as a Cardinal, Steele ranked third all-time in the 1,650 free and sixth in the 200 fly.
While with the Redhawks, Eichenlaub focused on the distance swimmers and was also responsible for putting together Miami’s 2017 recruiting class.
He also assisted the distance swimmers to eight top-eight finishes and 11 top-16 finishes at the 2017 MAC Championships.
Prior to Miami, Eichenlaub was the graduate assistant for the Nova Southeastern men’s and women’s swimming programs. There, he worked with the mid-distance and distance freestylers and handled day-to-day operations.
Eichenlaub helped guide the Nova Southeastern men to a fourth-place finish at the 2016 NCAA Division II Championships, while the women’s team won the 2015 Sunshine State Conference Championship and finished fourth at the NCAA Division II Championships that same season.
Steele and Eichenlaub join the Eagles after a strong 2016-2017 season.
The FGCU team won three consecutive and eight of the last nine CCSA Championships and wrapped up their last season at the NCAA Championships with a team third-best all-time finish.