Gymnastics’ Galvin Retiring After 39 Years

Posted on June 3, 2020

Derek Galvin ’76, head coach of the Carolina gymnastics team for the past 39 years, is retiring at the end of June. Associate head coach Marie Case Denick will step in as the program’s interim head coach.

Galvin, a native of Ireland who competed on the Carolina gymnastics team in the early 1970s, became the head coach in 1981. In the past 19 seasons, Tar Heel teams he has coached have posted 441 victories, won five East Atlantic Gymnastics League titles and advanced to NCAA regional competition 12 times.

Courtney Bumpers ’06 won NCAA individual championships in the floor exercise while competing in 2004 and 2005, earning a perfect 10 in defending her title. Galvin coached seven gymnasts who won EAGL all-around titles, and his gymnasts won 22 EAGL event championships.

Academically, the Tar Heels excelled at the highest level, earning numerous Phi Beta Kappa honors, nearly 160 National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches’ Scholastic All-America honors and two Academic All-America awards.

Galvin was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Region 8 Hall of Fame in 2017.

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