Juan Estevez Swaps Carolinas as New Diving Coach at South Carolina
Juan Estevez was hired Monday as the head diving coach at South Carolina, hired away from North Carolina.
Estevez was an assistant coach for the Tar Heels in 2024-25. The Cuban international helped Aranza Vazquez Montano be named the Most Valuable Diver of the ACC Championships in 2025 thanks to her title on 1-meter. With Vazquez Montano, Elle Joyce, Lanie Gutch and Sofie Knight, the Tar Heels won seven top-eight finishes and three top-three results. The men also recorded six top-eight medals at ACCs.
Gutch and Vazquez Montano placed third and fourth, respectively, at NCAAs on 1-meter, and Vazquez Montano was fifth on 3-meter and 11th on platform. The Mexican Olympian will compete this summer at the World Championships, while Gutch, Joyce and Knight will dive for the U.S. at the World University Games.
“We’re truly excited to have Juan joining us at South Carolina as our Head Diving Coach,” South Carolina head coach Jeff Poppell said in a press release. “He comes from UNC which easily had one of the top diving programs in the nation last year with a vast number of male and female divers performing at the highest level. Juan has a wealth of experience developing athletes over his career and his passion and excitement for the sport is awesome to see. There is no question that his technical knowledge will be a huge asset to our divers as they seek to make big strides this next year, and I am confident that the impact he will have on our program as a whole will be enormous.”
Estevez was a seven-time Cuban champion, first named to the senior team in 1989. He competed at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Estevez spent three years as an assistant coach at Orlando Dive Academy in Florida before joining UNC. He coached Gutch on Team USA at the 2024 Junior World Championships, where she won silver on 1-meter and fourth on platform synchro.
“I am very excited and thankful for the opportunity I have been given to become the head diving coach at the University of South Carolina,” Estevez said. “My goal is to create the best diving program in the country and I am looking forward to what the future holds for the team and myself going forward. Go Gamecocks!”
