After coaching for six seasons at WHHS, Tammy Smith retired from her position as varsity head coach in the spring of 2025. For this upcoming season, JC Prugh has been hired to fill the position.
Prugh is a Cincinnati native himself, graduating from Archbishop Moeller High School in 2018, where he swam for four years. He then continued his career collegiately at Davidson College in North Carolina.
“I’m really excited to meet the kids,” Prugh said. “I know that you guys are some of the top… students in the country, so that really excites me.”
He has high goals for the team in the next couple of years, wanting to lead both the girls’ and boys’ swim teams to a conference championship like Smith did twice with the girls team in 2022 and 2025, and once with the boys team in 2023. Additionally, Smith earned ECC Swim Coach of the Year four times: in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2025.
Smith also led Phoebe Wright, ‘22, and Aaron Sequeira, ‘20, to victory at the OHSAA Division 1 state championships in 100-yard Freestyle and 100-yard Backstroke, respectively.
Among all of her accomplishments, Smith said her biggest was developing a supportive and welcoming team culture.
“My proudest accomplishment by far is just developing a team culture that is valued, appreciated and respected by the team,” Smith said. “I hope the team can continue to uphold the values they worked so hard to cultivate, creating a family atmosphere through acceptance, encouragement, respect and a strong work ethic.
Much like Smith, Prugh’s coaching style places a strong emphasis on technique-focused training.
“My training is very technique specific,” Prugh said. “So I think that a lot of those swimmers who may not be swimming for a club [team], will get the same quality of training under my direction.”
While Prugh hopes to focus on technique-based training, he also hopes to pass on advice to high school swimmers and athletes in general regarding life outside their sport.
“Be open-minded,” Prugh said. “Change in life is always going to happen, whether you embrace that change or decide not to, the change is coming. So I advise everybody to embrace change and different ways of doing things.”
The high school swim season officially starts on Oct. 24. Students interested in trying out can sign up on Final Forms to receive more information from the new coaching staff.