Scotty Serio became the Head Coach of the Henderson State Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving in 2021, and is entering his fifth season at the helm in the 2025-26 season.
In his five seasons, Serio has coached two individual National Champions, including Henderson's first ever female National Champion, while bringing the program six overall National Championships - four individual, two relay - a pair of Top-10 finishes nationally for the men and the men's first conference championship in 19 seasons.
In his fourth season at Henderson, Serio led a Red Wave program to another strong season, with a total of six All-American honors earned by the Red Wave. Nojus Skirutis secured honors in both the 400-yard individual medley, and the 200-yard Butterfly, where he broke the school record with a time of 1:46.33. Patryk Dabrowski earned All-American honors in the 50-yard Freestyle.
On the women's side, Kiara Pozvai secured three All-American honors, in the 50-yard Freestyle, 100-yard Free, and the 100-yard Backstroke. Pozvai secured a podium finish in the 100 Free at the NCAA Championships.
In his third season at Henderson State, Serio led the Red Wave men's program to their best finish in program history at the NCAA National Championships with a seventh-place finish. Accompanying that program-best finish was three National Championships, including a men's 200-yard freestyle relay Division II National Record of 1:16.50.
While at the 2023-24 National Championships, the Red Wave saw their first ever female National Champion in Kiara Pozvai as she claimed the title in the 100-yard freestyle (48.88)
Preceding HSU's Nationals run, Serio led the men to their first New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference Championship since the 2004-05 season.
After just two seasons at the helm of the program, Serio had put the Red Wave on the map, producing the program's first National Champion (Lamar Taylor) since 2010. Under Serio, Taylor became the program's first ever three-time National Champion at a single Nationals meet.
Serio coached the Reddie men to what was at the time their best finish in the NCAA era, garnering a program record 200 points at the National Championships. Serio's efforts earned him the New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference's Men's Swimming Coaching of the Year for the 2022-23 season.
During that second season, Serio produced the NSISC's Female Swimmer of the Year (Kiara Pozvai) and Male Swimmer of the Year (Lamar Taylor).
After finishing his second season in Arkadelphia, Serio served as the Bahamian Worlds Head Coach at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan during the summer of 2023. A month prior to that, Serio coached Taylor at the Bahamian National Meet in Nassau, Bahamas.
Serio was hired on June 1, 2021 to succeed the legendary Coak Matthews.
"I am incredibly excited to welcome Scotty Serio back to Henderson State as the next head coach of our swimming and diving programs," Director of Athletics Shawn Jones said. "Scotty is a Reddie through and through, and his passion for both this program and the University was evident throughout the search process. His wealth of experience from coaching at the highest classification of high school swimming in Texas has prepared him to lead the Red Wave into the future. Scotty checked every box for us and what we were looking for. We cannot wait to see him take this program and make it his own in the coming years."
A McKinney, Texas native, Serio was a team captain during his time at HSU under Matthews in both 2012 and 2013, and said he is excited to come home for what he sees as a dream job.
"This truly is a dream come true for me," Serio said. "I am eager to serve my alma mater and am honored to be entrusted with the Red Wave program that was an integral part of my development as an athlete, coach, and father."
Serio is no stranger to following a coaching legend. In 2016, he took over the reins at McKinney High School from his father, Sam, who spent 33 years as head coach and led the Lions to nine district and four regional championships.
In the younger Serio's five seasons at McKinney, he was twice named District Diving Coach of the Year and helped the Lions break several long-standing records at the school. Under his leadership, McKinney's women's team never failed to finish in the Top-6 of the 6-6A region and the men clinched Top-12 region results in each of the last two seasons.
Before succeeding his father, Serio was an assistant coach for Prosper High School in Prosper, Texas, from 2015 to 2016, where he was named both Boys and Girls District Diving Coach of the Year. In 2014, he served as head coach for beginners and high school age students at the Metroplex Aquatics Swim Club in Allen, Texas — the second-largest club team in the state.
Serio was introduced to collegiate coaching in the 2013-14 season when he served as a student assistant for the Red Wave men's and women's programs. In his time as an assistant for Henderson, Serio worked with sprint, individual medley and distance groups, helped develop multiple NCAA national qualifiers, and co-designed the Red Wave weight program.
Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Serio was a stand-out in the pool for the Red Wave from 2010 to 2013. He took third-place and scored 16 points for Henderson at the 2012 NSISC Championship meet in the 1-meter dive, placed sixth in the same event at the 2013 conference championships, and had Top-10 NSISC finishes as a leg of both the 400-yard freestyle relay and 200-yard medley relay. In Serio's senior season in 2013, the Red Wave finished No. 20 in the country at the NCAA DII National Championships.
