JUSTIN ANDRADE | ASSISTANT COACH
Over the past two seasons, Andrade has been instrumental in the recruitment, development and improvement of the Pitt sprinters and the entire men’s swimming program.
Highlighting the impact of Andrade’s contribution for the Panthers has been the success of two-time NCAA qualifier Blaise Vera, who earned CSCAA All-America honors at the end of the 2019-20 season in which he won the 50-yard freestyle at the Purdue Invitational with a Pitt school record time of 19.10, advanced to two championship finals at the ACC meet and qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive season in multiple events.
Along with Vera’s historic success, which includes the breaking of three Pitt school records, Andrade’s tutelage also aided in several other sprinters making marked improvements and re-writing the Pitt men’s swimming relay records, in addition to scoring valuable team points at the ACC Championships.
As a result, Pitt men’s swimming posted several top-five relay finishes at the all-important ACC meet for the first time in 2019, while the Panthers further improved in 2020 and finished with a program-best 520 team points in the conference meet at the Greensboro Aquatic Center this past season.
After serving one season as an assistant coach for the Panthers, Andrade was promoted to associate head coach for men’s swimming prior to the 2019-20 campaign by head coach John Hargis, who cited Andrade’s experience in leadership roles as one of his outstanding attributes.
“Justin has made a remarkable impact during his time with our program," Hargis said of Andrade. “His past experience as a head coach is invaluable. His day-to-day drive to help our sprint groups improve has significantly boosted our student-athletes, resulting in tremendous success in a short amount of time. We're appreciative of Justin’s efforts, and he certainly earned his promotion.”
Andrade’s debut campaign coaching the Panthers saw Pitt’s swimmers accomplish numerous historical achievements, highlighted by 19 school records and All-ACC performances by Samy Helmbacher and Vera, who became the first Pitt men’s swimmers to earn a podium finish at the ACC Championships. Both Helmbacher and Vera also qualified for the 2019 NCAA Championships, giving Pitt two men’s swimming representatives at the national meet for the first time since 2002.
Internationally, Pitt swimmers Helmbacher (France) and Eben Vorster (South Africa) both qualified for the 2019 World University Games in Naples, Italy after winning national titles in their home countries. Vorster also represented South Africa at the 2019 World Championships in South Korea.
Andrade came to Pitt after four seasons as the head men's and women's swimming coach at Florida Tech, one of the top programs at the NCAA's Division II level.
During his time at Florida Tech, Andrade coached 15 NCAA Championships qualifiers, six All-America relays and four All-America individuals. In 2017, Florida Tech's 200-yard freestyle relay squad won the national title and Andrade was named the Men's Swimming Coach of the Year in the Sunshine State Conference. Prior to taking over the Florida Tech swimming programs, Andrade also spent the 2013-14 season as an assistant coach at the school.
As an athlete, Andrade swam the butterfly and freestyle events at Ashland University in Ohio, becoming a three-time All-Academic Team honoree in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). He graduated from Ashland in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in exercise science.
He also notably completed a 2012 summer internship with the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) in Washington, D.C., where he evaluated and designed fitness programs for the Department of Defense.
A native of Westerville, Ohio, Andrade is engaged to Ruth Violo.