Eastern Illinois University Athletics

Position: Head Coach Men's and Women's Swimming
Alma Mater: Eastern Illinois, 2000
Years at EIU: 2nd year

Former Panther swimmer Matt Bos was hired to take over the program following the retirement of his former coach and long-time skipper, Ray Padovan, in early 2008.

"It's exciting to be back at Eastern Illinois," Bos said. "I was a student-athlete and graduate assistant here. I greatly admired Coach Padovan and I was honored to be replace him as the new Panther swimming coach."

In his inaugural season of 2008-09, the Panther men finished 4-6 in dual meets, placing third at the end-of-season Summit League Championships. The women, meanwhile, also ended up with a 4-6 dual meet mark, finishing fifth at the league championship, as the Panthers are associate members of the league that also includes Centenary, IUPUI, Oakland, South Dakota, South Dakota State, and Western Illinois.

Bos came to EIU after working three years as the head swim coach for the San Antonio Wave, a top swim club in Texas. During his tenure he has coached several Junior and Senior National qualifiers. He also coached Jimmy Feigen who has set two National High School records and recently competed in the 2008 US Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb.

On the hiring of Bos, Director of Athletics, #Barbara Burke#, said, "I am thrilled with the caliber of coach we were able to hire in Matt Bos.  His knowledge of the program and his broad based coaching experience will help in moving forward for a new era of Panther swimming. Eastern Illinois can not thank Coach Padovan enough for his years of service and we know that he will continue to around to assist with any needs the program may have."

Prior to coaching in San Antonio, Bos worked for a year and a half as the coaching director at Swimming Wanganui in New Zealand. While abroad he helped coach athletes from seven different countries with his squad earning its first-ever Top 20 national ranking in 2004-05. Bos also coached Annabel Kosten who would go on to earn a bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics as a member of the Dutch 4x100 freestyle relay team.

As a collegiate coach Bos was a two-year graduate assistant coach at Eastern Illinois from 2000-02. He also worked one year as an assistant coach at Trinity University, an NCAA Division III school in San Antonio. In 2003-04, Bos was the head coach for the Swordfish Swim Team and assistant coach for Niles West High School in Skokie, Ill.

Bos is a ASCA level 4 certified coach and earned both his bachelor's (2000) and masters (2002) degrees from EIU as a member of the Panthers swim team from 1996-2000. He was a two-time Midwest Classic Champion in the breaststroke and was named team captain as a senior in 2000. As a graduate assistant he helped coach the Panthers to the 2002 Midwest Classic Championship.

He and his wife Amanda, also a former EIU swimmer, have both served as camp directors for Swim with the Stars, a swim camp owned by Olympians Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker and Lenny Krayzelburg.