Former West Virginia Coach Vic Riggs Hired to Lead D2 Lenoir-Rhyne
Vic Riggs, formerly the head coach of West Virginia, is returning to college coaching at Division II Lenior-Rhyne, the school announced Tuesday.
Rigs spent 17 seasons at West Virginia, coaching 48 NCAA qualifiers and 17 All-Americans. He guided 20 swimmers to qualify for U.S. Olympic Trials. Riggs stepped down at the end of 2024 with a 57-46 record in men’s dual meets and 49-74 in women’s, dating to 2007.
“I am excited to join the Lenoir-Rhyne Athletic Department and the Swimming program. I want to thank Vice President for Athletics Daron Montgomery and his staff for welcoming me to the LR Bears’ family,” Riggs said in a university statement. “I look forward to helping our student-athletes and the swim program reach their full potential both in and out of the pool. I’m excited to be back in the sport I love most.”
Riggs guided West Virginia to 18 total top-three finishes (11 men’s, seven women’s) in 17 seasons in the Big 12 and Big East Conference.
He now steps into the North Carolina Division II program, which did not score at either NCAA meet this season.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Riggs to the Lenoir-Rhyne community as the next head coach for men’s and women’s swimming,” Vice President for Athletics Daron Montgomery said. “His background of competitive success at the Division I level combined with a passion for coaching really stood out to us. We look forward to seeing both teams thrive under Vic’s leadership.”
Riggs was an assistant for one season at the University of Georgia and spent five years at USC as an assistant to Mark Schubert. He has two years of club experience at Gator Swim Club in Gainesville and was twice a U.S. National Distance Camp head coach.
He swam at the University of California, competing in the World University Games in 1985. His and wife Renee coached the Nellie Gail Saddleback Valley Gators in the late 1990s, and he previous had stops as an assistant at Fullerton Area Swim Team (FAST) and Cal State Bernadino.
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