Athletic director Patrick Nero has named James Winchester the new head coach for the swimming and diving program, the athletic department announced Thursday.

The two-time NCAA assistant coach of the year honorable mention recipient will take the helm of the program that announced the departure of former coach Dan Rhinehart in early March. After announcing that Rhinehart would not return to the program, the athletic department kicked off a national search for his replacement.

“I am truly excited by this opportunity,” Winchester said in a release. “I believe the vision and commitment to excellence here at GW carries across all aspects of the university, and am excited about the tremendous potential of our program. I look forward to developing championship teams that will represent GW at the highest levels in the classroom, the pool, and in the community.”

Winchester has spent 11 years as a swimming coach, including time as an assistant for Drury University’s NCAA Division II National Championship women’s team in 2007 and D-II Champion men’s teams in 2007 and 2008. He was also head of recruiting as well as the Stroke and I.M. coach at the University of Utah and a coach at the University of New Orleans. Winchester has coached more than 40 All-Americans, nine National Champions and five World Top 100 swimmers. He has also recruited two Top 25 recruiting classes as a coach.

“James’ proven track record of coaching, mentoring and developing some of the world’s best swimmers made him an attractive candidate for this position, and we are excited to see what he will do with our student-athletes,” Nero said in a release.

Winchester will be tasked with rebuilding a men’s program that finished seventh out of eight teams and a women’s program that finished 11th out of 11 teams at the A-10 Championships this year.