Chico Rego - Men's Swimming and Diving Coach - George Washington University Athletics

Chico Rego

Title:
Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach
Email:
f.rego@gwu.edu
Phone:
934-8430

Francisco 'Chico' Rego is in his third season leading the GW men's and women's swimming & diving program in 2026-27, after being named head coach at GW in June of 2024.

Rego has led the Revolutionaries to three Atlantic 10 titles during his tenure, with wins on the men's side in 2024-25 and 2026-27, and a win on the women's side in 2024-25.

During the 2025-26 season, Rego helped the Revolutionaries send three student-athletes to the NCAA Championships -- Holden Thomas, Ava Topolewski and Olivia Paquette -- the most the two programs have ever combined for in a single season. Under Rego's leadership, he also helped GW to win both A10 Most Outstanding Rookie Awards, as Andres Brooks (men's) and Talya Erdogan (women's) took home the awards for the Revolutionaries.

Rego excelled in his first year at the helm of the program in 2024-25, leading both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams back to the promise land with a pair of A-10 titles. In doing so, Rego was named the A-10 Men's Coach of the Year, leading multiple student-athletes to major awards, including the A-10 Men's Most Outstanding Performer Connor Rodgers, the A-10 Women's Most Outstanding Diver Olivia Paquette, and the A-10 Men's Most Outstanding Rookie Shae Stratton. The men's team's 883.5 points at the 2025 A10 Championship set a new confernece record.

Coming from the ACC's Georgia Tech where he was Associate Head Coach, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Rego earned the opportunity by steadily and relentlessly working his way up the coaching ladder, domestically and abroad, having received his first chance at college coaching as a Graduate Assistant at the SEC's Auburn in 2016.

"First, I would like to thank Tanya Vogel and Andrew Lundt for this opportunity. It has been a goal of mine to lead a college team, and GW is one of the most attractive programs in the country! The school's international reputation of top-notch academics in the heart of the nation's capital makes it a no-brainer for student-athletes worldwide. Helping the Buff & Blue reach new levels in and out of the water will be an honor and a privilege. I am confident that this program will build upon its reputation of swimming & diving excellence. Kat, Juliana and I are extremely excited to be surrounded and be part of the amazing team at George Washington!"

At Georgia Tech, Rego directly mentored two individual ACC swimming champions while coaching student-athletes to 13 NCAA All-America honors, including seven-time NCAA All-American and Tokyo 2020 Olympian Caio Pumputis (Brazil).

"Chico's history of success as a coach is evident, but as impressive are his character, positive energy and relentless quest to be the best version of himself and draw that out of others," said Vogel. "His mentorship abilities will positively impact our student-athletes, and his addition to our coaching room and community at large will be immense."

Among others who excelled with Rego's guidance, on the men's side he coached six-time NCAA All-American Christian Ferraro, as well as ACC Champion and Turkish Olympian Batur Unlu. On the women's side, Rego mentored two-time NCAA Qualifier and CSCAA Scholar All-American McKenzie Campbell, and 2021 NCAA Qualifier and CSCAA Scholar All-American Brooke Switzer. His recruiting chops led him to be named the Yellow Jackets' recruiting coordinator, helping Georgia Tech land SwimSwam honorable mention accolades for the men's class of 2021.

While he entered the college world learning how to run a program as a GA at Auburn, Rego's success as a coach on the club stage and international settings is also renowned, having coached Brazil in the Short Course Worlds in 2021 as well as his stops at Team Greenville (Greenville, S.C.) and Auburn Pro Team "Tiger Elite" in club swimming circles.

During his time at Auburn, Rego worked with a litany of the world's best swimmers, including Kevin Cordes (multi-time medalist in Budapest 2017, gold medal in Rio 2016), Marcelo Chierighini (silver medal in Budapest 2017, finalist in Rio 2016) and Felipe Lima (finalist in Budapest 2017, bronze medal at Short Course World Championships in 2016).

Prior to becoming a coach Stateside, a long-stated ambition of his, Rego coached numerous Brazilian National Championship podium performances.

A bachelor's degree recipient in physical education from Estácio de Sá University in 2009 in Rio De Janeiro, Rego also earned a master's degree in exercise physiology from Auburn University in 2017. Rego's wife, Dr. Kat McKinney, grew up in the Metro DC Area. They are the proud parents of Juliana.