Simmons Director of Athletics Ali Kantor announces the hiring of Michael Prout, Jr. as the next Head Swimming and Diving Coach and Aquatics Director.

Prout comes to Simmons with a plethora of experience coaching swimming in the Greater Boston area. He spent the last six years as the Head Swim Coach and Program Coordinator with Adaptive Sports New England, as well as an assistant coach for the premier Commonwealth Swim Club for the last five years. 

A former Division I swimmer at the University of Massachusetts, Prout also competed on the national and international stage. In 2004, he won a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle and a bronze medal in the 100-meter freestyle race at the Paralympics in Athens at the age of 18.  He also competed in Beijing in 2008 and was a team captain in the London Games in 2012 In addition, he coached the USA Team in the 2019 Parapan American Games and 2019 Para Swimming World Championships and most recently in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

The western Massachusetts native graduated from Massachusetts in 2009 with a degree in social thought and political economy.