Eastern Illinois University Athletics

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

A new but familiar face returned to campus a year ago as Eastern Illinois hired former Panther swimmer MATT BOS as the new head coach of the EIU swimming programs.

Bos replaced long-time head coach, Ray Padovan, in July of 2008. Padovan retired in late spring of 2008 following 42 years as the skipper of the EIU swimming, including 29 seasons overseeing the women’s squad. 

“It’s exciting to be back at Eastern Illinois,” Bos said upon being hired. “I was a student-athlete and graduate assistant here under Padovan, so am honored and privaledged to take over the program from coach Ray.”
 
In his first season as Eastern head coach, Bos helped the Panthers secure eight swimmers to 2009 All-Summit League honors, with four earning spots from both the men’s and women’s sides. That includes Joe Ethington, Thomas Showers, Matt Scaliatine, and Cody Showers for the men and Tyler Crittenden, Alex Green, Story Pumphrey, and Lauren Zillmer for the women. 

As a team, the men finished third at the 2009 end-of-season Summit League meet, ending the three-day event ahead of arch-rival Western Illinois and fellow league foes South Dakota State and IUPUI. The women, meanwhile, garnered a fifth place finish out of the six squads competing. 

However, during in just his first season as head coach, the Panther squads notched an amazing 37 spots on the EIU Top Ten best times list, including setting new Eastern marks in ten different events, a majority of which were set at the Summit League meet. 

Prior to returning to EIU, Bos worked 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. 

“I am thrilled with the caliber of coach we were able to hire in Matt Bos,” stated Burke. “His knowledge of the program and his broad based coaching experience helps us 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 400-Free Relay team. 

As a collegiate coach, Bos was a two-year graduate assistant coach at Eastern Illinois from 2000-02 under coach Padovan. 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, Illinois. 

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 Panther 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 and a member of the Panther Athletic staff, have both served as camp directors for Swim with the Stars, a swim camp owned by Olympians Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker and Lenny Krayzelburg. 

“This continues to been a fun and exciting challenge,” Bos added. “This is a great time to be involved with Eastern Illinois athletics and I think many positive changes continue to happen within the athletic department.”