Bruce Marchionda, who carries over 30 years of coaching experience at both the collegiate and prep levels, enters his 13th season on The Hill and his 10th season as head coach of the Western Kentucky University swimming and diving team in 2014-15.
Marchionda, who was called to replace Bill Powell when he retired in the spring of 2005 after 36 years at the helm of the WKU program, was an associate head coach for three seasons until replacing Powell.
Over the previous nine seasons, Marchionda has been voted by his league peers as Coach of the Year six times. Marchionda was also named an assistant coach in 2012 for the United States women[apos]s team during the 11th Annual FINA Short Course World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. Former Lady Topper and Olympian Claire Donahue was on the U.S. roster where she took bronze in the 4x100 medley finals as well as fifth in the 100 fly and sixth in the 50 fly.
Marchionda and his team were the first on The Hill to make the switch to Conference USA, and the first to bring a league championship back to Bowling Green, as the Hilltoppers won the C-USA Men[apos]s Invitational in 2013-14. At the meet, WKU had 12 individual championships with 10 on the men[apos]s side and two on the women[apos]s side to go with three relay championships from the men. Swimmer of the Meet, Fabian Schwingenschlogl, highlighted the meet with a NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 100 breast.
Schwingenschlogl went on to the NCAA National Championships in Austin, Texas, and earned All-America honors after placing eighth in the 100 breast.
The women also had great success in 2013-14, finishing fourth at the league meet in Atlanta in their first year with C-USA. At season[apos]s end, Nadine Laemmler was named C-USA Newcomer of the Year while Amy Crayne was named C-USA Freshman Diver of the Year. Crayne along with freshman Madison Rylee also qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championship.
Marchionda also saw former Lady Topper and Olympic gold medalist Claire Donahue win a national championship in the 100 fly at the AT&T Winter Nationals while the Lenoir City, Tenn., native also joined the USA National Team at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships in Australia, finishing sixth in the 100 fly.
The 2012-13 season was memorable for the WKU squad, highlighted by the women[apos]s team claiming the program[apos]s ninth Sun Belt Conference Championship. With no enough men[apos]s teams in the SBC to have league competition, the men[apos]s team competed in the Conference USA Men[apos]s Swimming and Diving Invitational where it placed second in a tightly-contested match with nationally-ranked Southern Methodist University. Over the two conference meets, WKU record 32 NCAA provisional qualifying times, 20 program records with 31 swims under the current varsity record and two C-USA meet records. Marchionda was also voted as a Co-Coach of the Year at the end of each meet.
During the regular season, the women[apos]s side had an unblemished mark in dual meets while four swimmers in Allie Duff, Hannah Runyon-Hass, Michelle Craddock and Alex Van Oost along with diver Caitlin Dean earned Swimmer/Diver of the Week honors throughout the competition year.
The men[apos]s team also had a successful 2012-13 campaign, falling in just one dual meet during the season in a toe-to-toe matchup with nationally-recognized Northwestern. The team had two swimmers break C-USA meet records at the end of the season, as Aymeric Le Corno set a new standard in the 500 free and Heitor Rodrigues did the same in the 100 fly.
WKU wrapped up the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Championships with a pair of runner-up finishes. Over the four-day meet, the two teams combined to set 12 school records, three SBC meet and conference records and tallied 16 NCAA provisional qualifying times. WKU sophomore Heitor Rodrigues was named the Sun Belt Men[apos]s Co-Swimmer of the Year. Including Rodrigues, 14 Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers were named CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major honorable mention All-Americans.
In the summer of 2012, seven WKU swimmers participated in U.S. Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. With a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly finals, Claire Donahue became the first WKU swimmer to ever make the U.S. Olympic swimming team. In London, Donahue became the first WKU athlete to earn a gold medal, as she swam the butterfly leg in the prelims of the 4x100 medley to help guide Team USA to the finals where the team hit the wall first. Donahue also placed seventh in the finals of the 100 fly.
The 2010-11 season saw Marchionda lead the Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers to second-place finishes at the 2011 SBC Swimming and Diving Championships. Marchionda was named the Men[apos]s Swimming Coach of the Year while senior Claire Donahue earned her second Women[apos]s Swimmer of the Year award. Under Marchionda, Donahue finished her career as the most decorated swimmer in WKU history.
At the conclusion of the four-day conference meet, the two teams combined to set 18 school records, tallied 22 NCAA provisional qualifying times and one automatic qualifying time. Donahue, along with 10 teammates, were named Mid-Major All-Americans by CollegeSwimming.com.
Donahue finished second in the nation in the 100-yard butterfly event at the 2011 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, the highest finish in WKU history. She finished the 100-yard butterfly in a school-record 51.68 seconds. The second-place finish improved on her fourth-place finish in the same event at last year[apos]s NCAA championships.
The Lenior City, Tenn., native finished her WKU career as the school-record holder in both the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly along with eight individual Sun Belt Conference titles, three conference championships and the highest individual finish at the NCAA championships in school history. She also participated in three NCAA Championships.
The WKU men[apos]s and women[apos]s swimming programs swept the 2010 Sun Belt Conference Championships, the Hilltoppers claiming their first championship since 2007 and the Lady Toppers winning their third consecutive title and eighth in the program[apos]s history. Two WKU swimmers picked up Swimmer of the Year honors while Marchionda was named the Coach of the Year on the men[apos]s and women[apos]s side.
At the 2010 NCAA Championships, Donahue became the first female swimmer, and only the second person in WKU history, to qualify for the finals session at the national meet. She placed fourth in the 100 butterfly and 17th in the 200 fly.
Following the 2009-10 season, Marchionda was recognized by the ASCA as a Coach of Excellence for the 2010 season. The award is given to a coach who guides a swimmer to a top-8 finish at a USA swimming national-level meet or a USA collegiate champion.
Marchionda ended the 2008-09 season by guiding the women[apos]s team to their seventh Sun Belt Conference Championship. At the championships, the Lady Toppers posted nine first place finishes and nine second place finishes. The Lady Toppers also concluded the season perfect with 12 dual meet victories. Marchionda also guided Lady Topper Claire Donahue to the NCAA Championships and the 2009 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships, where the sophomore placed ninth in the 100 Fly.
Marchionda guided the men[apos]s team to a third place finish at the 2009 SBC Championships. There, the Hilltoppers grabbed eight top-five finishes. At the conclusion of the season, Sean Penhale competed in the NCAA Championships placing 30th in the 500 Free and 24th in the 1650 Free. Additionally, the Hilltoppers recorded a 9-1 overall record during the season.
Academically in 2008-09, Marchionda had 21 athletes named to the SBC Commissioner[apos]s List and 14 placed on the SBC Academic Honor Roll.
In 2007-08, the Lady Toppers added to their list of Sun Belt Conference Championships after winning the coveted title with 775 points. Additionally, Marchionda guided the Toppers and Lady Toppers to dual meet records of 8-1 and 7-2, respectively, and had both teams finish in the top 10 in the final Collegeswimming.com polls with the men[apos]s team finishing the season ranked eighth and the women ranked sixth. Under Marchionda, seven student-athletes were also named to the Collegeswimming.com All-America Honorable Mention team. Claire Alexandre, Jessica Aspinall, Claire Donahue, Brittany Doss, Francis Gilmore and Sean Penhale all picked up the honor in 2008.
Academically in 2007-08, Marchionda had three student-athletes named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV team. Wes Brown was named to the first team and Mitch Miller and Jennifer Adams were named to the second team. Additionally, Brown was awarded an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship after the 2008 season, one of only 29 male student-athletes that competed in winter sports to be awarded the honor and the first WKU student-athlete to win the award since the 2006 season.
In his first season as WKU[apos]s head coach, Marchionda guided the men[apos]s squad to the Sun Belt Conference Championship after an undefeated regular season topped off by a No. 10 ranking in the national polls. After finishing the regular season with a record of 8-1 and earning a third-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference Championships, the women[apos]s swimming and diving team held the number eight spot in the final CollegeSwimming.com poll. Ten school records were broken or matched during the 2005-06 campaign and two of Marchionda[apos]s seniors gained recognition for their achievements out of the pool. Lisa Ross was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV second-team while Karl Swanson was named WKU[apos]s male student-athlete of the year and the 2005-06 SBC male student-athlete of the year.
Before coming to WKU, Marchionda helped lead the Tigers to the ACC Championship in 1997 and for his efforts, Marchionda was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach-of-the-Year following the 2007 season. At Clemson, he produced 26 Atlantic Coast Conference champions, as well as, several swimmers that attained national and international awards.
Marchionda also has international coaching experience on his resume, spending tme as a member of the Peruvian National Staff.
Prior to his stint as the leader of the Tigers, Marchionda served in coaching roles with the Clemson Aquatic Club, Old Dominion and Norfolk Academy. During his 13 years at Norfolk Academy, he won 15 Virginia state championships, and produced 21 hight school All-Americans, as well as, 79 high school state champs.
Marchionda graduated from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa., in 1979 with a bachelor[apos]s degree in biology. At Westminister, he was a six-time NAIA swimming All-American in the sprint events. An Olympic Trials qualifier in 1980, Marchionda was also a three-time Master Swimming All-American. A natice of Aliquippa, Pa., Marchionda is a 1975 graduate of Quiqley High School in Baden, Pa., Marchionda and his wife, Hope, have two children, Jacob and Mason.
