Ohio State Swimming Hires Emily Hetzer, Promotes Michael Butler

Ohio State Director of Swimming and Diving Bill Dorenkott has introduced updates to the teaching employees for the 2026-27 season. Emily Hetzer has been employed as an assistant coach and Michael Butler has been promoted right into a full-time hybrid function the place he’ll function each the director of operations and an assistant coach.

Hetzer joins the Buckeyes after two seasons as an assistant coach at Cincinnati. In her time with the Bearcats, she coached 4 NCAA qualifiers, two U.S. Olympic Team Trials semifinalists and helped the crew 17 faculty information and 105 high 10 program occasions. Prior to Cincinnati, Hetzer was a graduate assistant at Georgia Southern through the 2023-24 season. In this function, she assisted in teaching the swimming and diving crew, in addition to coaching the coed athletes in endurance-based coaching and aided in coordinating recruiting efforts and crew improvement.

“Emily came highly recommended to the Buckeyes via the University of Cincinnati,” stated Dorenkott. “Ohio State swimming and diving has a history of identifying and developing rising stars in the coaching profession. We believe we have found a future star in Emily Hetzer. From the moment we first connected, and as Emily visited campus, the feeling was mutual among our coaching staff, support staff, and student-athletes that Emily aligned brilliantly with our culture and vision for the future. Emily has a high capacity for work and ability to connect with young people in a genuine and meaningful way. We are fortunate to call Emily Hetzer a Buckeye.”

Hetzer competed collegiately at Auburn, the place she was an NCAA qualifier in all 5 of her seasons and was a four-time All-American. She additionally certified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. She graduated with a bachelor’s diploma in kinesiology and train science in 2022 and earned a second bachelor’s diploma in psychology in 2023.

After serving in a time period function as an assistant coach through the 2025-26 season, Butler has been promoted right into a newly created twin function the place he’ll function each the director of operations for swimming and diving, in addition to an assistant swimming coach. During the 2025-26 season, Butler helped each the boys’s and ladies’s crew to high three finishes on the Big Ten Championships and assisted within the teaching and improvement of 20 NCAA swimming qualifiers. Butler started his teaching profession as a volunteer assistant coach at Case Western through the 2024-25 season, the place he ran practices, assisted with method improvement, logistics and recruiting.

“Michael has endeared himself to our team and staff over the past season by virtue of his strong work ethic, passion for the sport and desire to help our swimmers develop as students, athletes, and people,” Dorenkott stated. “While his role this past year was serving in a temporary coaching position, we have elevated Michael to a newly created dual role as director of operations for swimming and diving as well as on deck responsibilities as an assistant coach. I have complete confidence that Michael has what it takes to make a difference for our current and future Buckeyes.”

Butler swam at Case Western from 2021-24 and was the previous document holder within the 1650 free. He earned bachelor’s levels in psychology and cognitive science from Case Western in 2025.

More College News

— The above press launch was posted by Swimming World at the side of Ohio State Athletics. For press releases and promoting inquiries please contact [email protected].