Sergio Lopez Miro, selected for ISCA Hall of Fame Class of '23, four-time Olympic Coach, two-time Olympian and bronze medal winner, was named the director of Virginia Tech swimming and diving in May of 2018 by director of athletics Whit Babcock.
Since Lopez Miro took the helm, the Hokies have seen a quick raise in the national rankings. The 2020-21 season was a breakout season for both the men's and women’s teams. On the men’s side, the Hokies recorded an 11th place finish at NCAA Championships; the highest finish in school history combined with the most points scored in school history (135). The Hokies followed that up with another 11th-place finish in 2022, breaking the record with 143 points from the men. They then carried the momentum into the 2023 season, where the men's team placed 9th at the NCAA Championship; the highest in program history.
The Hokies turned in four All-Americans and eight school records in 2022. The women also added an All-American during the 2022 season.
The women finished 21st in 2021, with the 2nd highest finish in school history, scoring the most points in school history (55). Through these performances, the Hokies earned 15 All-American Honors.
The Hokies also made a splash at the 2021 ACC Championship meet where Youssef Ramadan was named ACC Freshman of the Year (20-21). Ramadan also became the fastest freshman in NCAA History with his performance in the 100 Butterfly (44.32). Continuing to be a strong force in the water, Ramadan became the 2023 ACC Male Swimmer of the Year and a two time ACC Male MVP. He then became the programs first ever NCAA National Champion in the 100 Butterfly in 2023 with a time of 43.15.
Since taking over the program in 2018, the Hokies have seen 50 school records, 36 All-American performers and an NCAA Champion. Lopez Miro’s Hokies have rewritten the all-time top-10 list with the men’s team producing 329 top-10 performances, while the women’s team has produced an impressive 196 top-10 performances.
His program has also excelled in the classroom. For the past four seasons, both the men’s and women’s teams were named CSCAA Scholar All-American Teams. Also being recognized by the ACC for their academic success, Lopez Miro has had 22 men and 24 women make the All-ACC Academic team.
Lopez Miro sent 16 Hokies to the 2020 Olympic Trials. While the Hokies had a strong showing at trials, it was highlighted by AJ Pouch’s performance in the 200 Breaststroke with a fifth-place finish, as well as Blake Manoff’s semi-final appearance in the 100 Fly.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics saw eight athletes coached under Lopez Miro heading into the games. Highlighted by current Hokie Youssef Ramadan placing 16th overall in the 100m Butterfly with an Egyptian national record time of 51.67. Another notable performance was that of Santo Condorelli winning a silver medal in the 400 Free Relay.
Lopez Miro joined the Hokies after spending the two seasons as the associate head coach at Auburn University, following a two-year stint as the head high performance coach of the Singapore Swimming Association.
Prior to joining the Hokies, Lopez Miro had head coaching experience at West Virginia from 2004-07, where he was a two-time Big East Men's Coach of the Year. During the 2006-07 season, the Mountaineers went undefeated with a regular season record of 13-0.
Following his stint at WVU, Lopez led the prestigious Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida from 2007-14. During his tenure, he led both the boys' and girls' teams to state titles and his teams held five of the 11 independent school national high school records. In addition, the boys team claimed four national titles, while the girls finished as runners-up twice. His list of notable pupils while at Bolles includes Olympic gold medalists and NCAA champions Ryan Murphy and Joseph Schooling.
While working with the Singapore Swimming Association, Lopez Miro created and coached at the National Training Center, where he worked with 33 of the best swimmers in the country. He developed and coached the first Olympic gold medalist, Schooling, in Singapore's history. He is a three-time Olympic team coach, serving as the head coach for Singapore at the 2016 Rio games and as an assistant in 2012 for the London games. In addition, Lopez Miro was the head coach for Netherlands Antilles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The Barcelona, Spain native was a member of the Spanish national team from 1984-96. He won a silver medal at the 1993 World Championships and has held European and U.S. Open records as well as 14 records in Spain. Lopez Miro claimed a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics in the 200 breaststroke.
Lopez Miro began his coaching career as a volunteer at Arizona from 1994-96. From 1996-97 he was the technical director at the Cantabric Swimming Federation in Santander, Spain before returning to the U.S. to serve as the head coach at Hillenbrand Aquatics in Tucson, Arizona.
He returned to the college ranks to serve as an assistant (2000-03) coach at Northwestern before being promoted to associate head coach in 2003. While there, he helped the Wildcats produce seven All-Americans, eight Big Ten champions, a Big Ten Swimmer of the Year and a Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Lopez graduated from American University in 1992 with a degree in Kinesiology. During his collegiate career, Lopez Miro earned nine All-American honors in the breaststroke and IM events.
2022-23
MEN
VaSID Coach of the Year
First NCAA Champion in program history (Youssef Ramadan)
6 All-American Honors, 4 All-American Honorable Mentions
Finished 9th at NCAA’s (highest finish in program history)
7 School Records
10 First Team All-State Members
7 Second Team All-State Members
2 Olympic Trial Qualifiers
11 All-ACC Academic Team Members
CSCAA Scholar All-American Team
WOMEN
5 All-American Honorable Mention Honors
Finished 20th at NCAA’s (highest finish in over 10 years)
4 School Records
10 Second Team All-State Members
3 Olympic Trial Qualifiers
16 All-ACC Academic Team Members
CSCAA Scholar All-American Team
2021-22
MEN
4 All-Americans, 11 Honorable Mention All-American
5 Scholar All-Americans
Finished 11th at NCAAs with most points in school history (143)
9 First Team All-State Members
Second Team All-State Members
8 School Records at NCAAs
WOMEN
1 All-American
6 Scholar All-Americans
3 School Records
2 First Team All-State Members
13 Second Team All-State Members
Finished 23rd at NCAAs
2020-21
MEN
11th place finish at NCAA Championships
3rd place at ACC Championships
12 School Records
10 All-Americans
7 All-ACC Academic Team
5 CSCAA Scholar All-Americans
12 Olympic Trial Qualifiers (AJ Pouch 5th place finish at trails)
ACC Freshman of the Year Youssef Ramadan
2 Olympic qualifiers Youssef Ramadan and Antani Ivanov. Youssef went on to finish 16th overall with a semi-final appearance.
WOMEN
21st place at NCAAs
4th Place at ACCs
6 School Records
5 All-Americans
5 All-ACC Academic Team
8 CSCAA Scholar All-Americans
4 Olympic Trial Qualifiers
2019-20
MEN
8 All-Americans
4th place finish at ACC Championships
12 CSCAA Scholar All-Americans
CSCAA Scholar All-American Team
3 School Records
The Hokies stayed ranked through the entire season in the top 25. Racking up two top 25 wins against the 8th ranked Ohio State Buckeyes and 15th ranked Virginia Cavaliers. This was the 6th time in school history that the Hokies have taken down Virginia on the men’s side.
WOMEN
3 All-Americans
8th place finish at ACC Championships
12 CSCAA Scholar All-Americans
CSCAA Scholar All-American Team
2018-19
MEN
35th place finish at NCAA Championships
4th place finish at ACC Championships
Broke 9 school records
2 All-AmericanS
Ian Ho & Antani Ivanov qualified for 2019 FINA World Championships
Ian Ho, Nobert Szabo, both qualified for the 2019 World University Games
WOMEN
40th place finish at NCAA Championships
8th place finish at ACC Championships
1 All-American
Reka Gyorgy & Loulou Vos qualified for 2019 World University Games