Marina Preiss was hired as assistant coach at Vanderbilt in August 2023.
During the 2023-24 campaign, her first with the program, Preiss (pronounced PREESE) helped three Commodores— Faith Knelson, Mercedes Traba and Kailia Utley—advance to finals the SEC Championships as Vandy recorded its highest point total at the meet since the 2007 campaign. A total of 16 individuals would made NCAA B and NIC A and B cuts in 41 events throughout the season, which culminated with Utley becoming the first Dore to compete at the NCAA Championships since 1989. At the end of her first season on staff, 18 swimmers posted times that qualified for the school’s all-time performer list on 41 occasions as the team saw 10 individual and all five relay records fall.
Out of the pool, all but one member of the program garnered SEC academic honors during and after the season, with Knelson, Traba and Utley all named CSCAA Scholar All-Americans and four Commodores—Megan Ciezczak, Abby Francis, Ellie Taliaferro and Utley—honored as College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selections on the national level.
Preiss came to the program after serving as assistant coach at New Mexico State for two seasons. In two seasons with the Aggies, Preiss helped multiple individuals combine to break five school records while also leading the program to three dual-meet victories over rival New Mexico during that span. Her efforts aided New Mexico State student-athletes in recording nine top-three finishes at the Western Athletic Conference Championships in 2023, with one individual posting an NCAA B Standard during the campaign and Naomi Slee named the conference’s Freshman of the Year. The Aggies also had nine top-three results at the WAC Championships her first season on staff.
Working primarily with sprinters in the pool, her responsibilities also included writing and running dryland workouts as well as organizing team travel, recruiting weekends, and alumni and booster events.
Preiss was a volunteer assistant for two seasons at Auburn prior to her time at New Mexico State. While with the Tigers, she helped run workouts for sprint, middle distance and distance swimmers, and write and run dryland workouts while also aiding in the program’s recruiting efforts. During that time, she also coached the 14-and-under team at the Auburn Aquatics.
She has also served as a volunteer assistant at Southwestern (Texas) University and as a coach for the 14-and-under team with Waterloo Swimming.
Originally from East Hampton, New York, Preiss is a 2018 graduate of San Diego State with a degree in social sciences. She was a four-year member of the Aztecs’ swim program, competing in free events and serving as a team captain her senior season.