UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University Athletic Department's newly-established Women's Swimming & Diving program has landed its first-ever Assistant Coach.  The program has hired Mike Matter as its diving coach.

Matter, a resident of Saginaw, Mich., has a long list of accomplishments as a distinguished member of the local swimming & diving community dating back 31 years.

He was most recently the Varsity Diving Coach at Saginaw Heritage High School and White Pine Middle School, a position that he held from 2002-2013.  Prior to that diving position, he held the title of Boys Varsity Swimming & Diving Coach at Heritage during the years 2002-09 and Girls Varsity Swimming & Diving Coach from 2006-09.  

Matter served as the Swimming & Diving Coach at Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central High School for 12 years, along with coaching stints at the Saginaw YMCA (1972-74, 86-94), St. Stephen's High School (1977-81), Bay City Central High School (1975-76), and South Junior High School (1973-74). 

Mike has earned numerous honors over the span of his coaching career as well.  He was the 2006 Saginaw Valley Girls and Boys "Coach of the Year."  Matter has been named the MISCA Zone 8 Girls "Coach of the Year" (2006), MISCA Regional "Coach of the Year" (2001, 1999) and coached a 1998 team that was recognized as the MISCA Academic All-State Champion with a team GPA of 3.77.

He has coached swimmers to eight individual state championships, one all-american honor and has had 20 divers who have competed in Sate Finals competition.  He coached a pair of divers to all-american honors as well.

"I am very excited that Mike Matter has decided to join the swimming & diving staff and become the first-ever diving coach at Saginaw Valley State University," said newly-minted Swimming & Diving Head Coach Bruce Zimmerman.  "Coach Matter has a long and distinguished coaching resume and he brings a great deal of knowledge and experience that will play a significant role in the development of a highly-competitive diving program.  Mike is well-known and respected by his peers throughout Michigan and he has his finger on the pulse of competitive diving across the state.  He has high expectations of himself and the program, and his philosophies and vision for the program mirror those of SVSU and the SVSU Athletic Department."

A graduate of Northern Michigan University, he was a captain of the men's varsity swimming team that he competed on from 1967-71.  He served as an Undergraduate Assistant Coach one season at Northern before graduating with a bachelor's degree in Secondary Education in January of 1972.  Matter was inducted into the Northern Michigan University Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

The SVSU Swimming & Diving program will begin competition with a women's team in the 2014-15 season, with a men's team joining for the 2016-17 slate.