BOWLING GREEN, Ky. Four hundred and twenty-five total victories. The second-highest win total ever in NCAA Division I mens swimming. Fifteen conference championships in three different leagues. Ten coach-of-the-year awards. These are many of the accomplishments achieved by longtime Western Kentucky University mens and womens swimming and diving head coach Bill Powell.
The only head coach the Western Kentucky programs have known, Powell announced his retirement Wednesday after 36 years on the Hill. Western Director of Athletics Dr. Wood Selig promoted current associate head coach Bruce Marchionda to the position of head coach, with Powell remaining on staff as a part-time assistant.
I feel very fortunate to have worked with coach Powell for the last six years. I can not say thank you enough to coach Powell and his family for what they have meant for our program, Selig said. He is an amazing person of the highest integrity. Western is very fortunate that Bill Powell literally poured his heart and soul into our swimming and diving programs for the last 36 years.
We are very pleased that he has elected to remain involved with our mens and womens programs as an assistant coach. Keeping someone of his caliber in our programs will be a great asset for our swimmers and divers. He will easily be the top assistant head swim coach in the nation.
Western Kentucky swimming has been my life, and my familys life its meant everything, said Powell. I havent missed a meet in 36 years, my wife has missed only one home meet, my kids made most of them when they were little and my son still comes to meets. I wouldnt have traded it for anything else.
There are so many memories, but it all comes down to the kids.
After starting the Western Kentucky swimming and diving program in 1969, Powell led the Hilltoppers to a 330-74 (81.7%) mark, posting 35 consecutive winning seasons after a 3-4 finish in his inaugural effort. In leading WKU to 15 years with 10 or more victories, Powell has guided the Toppers to seven undefeated campaigns as well as seven other seasons with just one loss.
Western has won 10 conference championships after claiming the first-ever Sun Belt Conference title in February, including seven straight Midwest Intercollegiate championships from 1979-85. The Toppers collected 15 other top-three finishes at conference meets over the years, including placing second 10 times.
The Lady Toppers posted a 95-16-1 (85.3%) record in eight seasons under Powells direction, winning all five SBC championships since the league began sponsoring the sport for women in 2000-01. WKU recorded the programs second undefeated season after going 13-0 in dual meets last year, also losing just one meet on three other occasions. In the five years that Western has claimed the Sun Belt title, the Lady Toppers have put together a 64-8 (88.9%) mark.
Powell first earned coach-of-the-year honors from the Midwest Intercollegiate Conference in 1982 after guiding the Hilltoppers to their second straight conference crown. He was honored by the league again in 1985 and 88, before a 12-1 record in 1994 garnered Powell Eastern Intercollegiate Conference coach-of-the-year accolades. He was selected the National Independent Coach of the Year in both 1999 and 2000, while picking up Sun Belt coach-of-the-year honors in February.
Powell was also named the SBC womens Coach of the Year three times in 2001, 03 and 04.
Eight Western swimmers have qualified for the NCAA Championships, including former 50-meter freestyle (short course) American Record holder Steve Crocker as well as his son, Dan, while numerous members of his teams have competed in international competitions current freshman Jevon Atkinson was the most recent after representing Jamaica in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
On Nov. 13 last year, WKU renamed the pool at the Raymond B. Preston Center the Bill Powell Natatorium in his honor.
Powell came to the Hill from Wyandotte, Mich., where he had coached the St. Josephs High School team the previous nine years. He was Michigans Coach of the Year in 1968 after leading the school to a second-place finish in the state meet.
He earned both his bachelors and graduate degrees from Western Michigan. Powell and his wife, Joanne, have four grown children Mary Beth, Anne, Dan and Katie and eight grandchildren.
Bill Powell will always be a coaching legend. His achievements speak for themselves, from founding the swimming program at Western in 1969 to coaching that program through 36 seasons, including 35 consecutive winning seasons, said WKU President Dr. Gary Ransdell.
He now ranks second in all-time wins for Division I coaches that kind of success is not only a reflection of the athletic abilities of Bills recruits, but of the caliber of student-athletes he recruits. He has helped develop the talent and character of countless student-athletes who have represented Western so well through the years.
We are grateful for Bills many contributions to WKU and to the positive values of intercollegiate athletics
Marchionda is no stranger to the Western Kentucky program, having served as Powells associate head coach the last three seasons. And, he already owns experience directing a Division I squad after leading Clemsons program from 1994-02.
Marchionda has been instrumental in recruiting in his three years on the Hill, while assisting Powell with day-to-day duties in running the program. The Lady Toppers have posted a 43-6 (87.8%) record and the Hilltoppers have recorded a 29-6 (82.9%) mark since his arrival. The women have claimed the Sun Belt Conference championship in each of his three years at WKU, and the men won the inaugural SBC title this winter.
From the day Bruce arrived on campus three years ago, I could sense that he would be a perfect fit to replace Bill Powell as our next head coach, Selig said. Bruce came to Western after a highly successful head coaching stint at Clemson where he produced a dozen academic All-Americans and half a dozen Olympians in his eight years. We are fortunate to have someone with the credentials of coach Marchionda take over the leadership of one of the nations finest mens and womens intercollegiate swimming and diving programs.
It is an added bonus that we will have continuity within our program by keeping our stellar coaching staff intact. Bruce will continue to build upon the solid foundation established by coach Powell and the hundreds of swimmers who have helped create our outstanding program.
At Clemson, Marchionda was selected the 1997 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Lady Tigers to the league championship. Individually, his swimmers won 26 ACC titles while setting 34 school records as he guided Clemson to a 212-56-1 (79%) record during his tenure. Six of his swimmers participated in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, with 14 others qualifying for the United States Olympic Trials.
In his final season at Clemson, he coached six All-Americans, had eight student-athletes named all-ACC, coached four conference Rookies of the Week and saw 10 school records fall.
Marchionda was at Clemson one season before being promoted to head coach, serving as an assistant working primarily with middle distance swimmers. During that campaign, he was also the head coach of the Clemson Aquatic Club, where he produced Senior and Junior National finalists.
He was also an advisory coach at Old Dominion for two years, and was the head coach at Norfolk (Va.) Academy from 1980-93. At Norfolk, Marchionda won 15 state championships while coaching 21 high school All-Americans as well as 79 state champs. Out of the pool, 12 of his swimmers earned Academic All-America honors.
Marchionda has international experience as well, having served as a member of the Peruvian National staff.
Obviously, its an honor to be chosen to lead the program into the next era and follow coach Powell, said Marchionda. You dont replace a coach with his accomplishments, you just hope you walk in the footsteps of coach Powell and keep the program at the level he maintained for so many years.
To be named only the second head swimming and diving coach in Western Kentuckys history is very, very special. Im looking forward to the challenge of upholding the traditions that have been established on the Hill.
The transition from one head coach to another will be very minimal in this case, he added. I dont envision things changing very much with coach Powell still involved in the program. Having been involved in the recruiting all of the swimmers that will be on the team next year also helps in this transition.
First and foremost, Bruce is a great recruiter. His knowledge of the sport is good and he has a fantastic work ethic, Powell said. I feel that the program is in good shape, and I wouldnt have left him in this position if I didnt believe that.
A 1979 graduate of Westminster (Pa.), Marchionda earned his bachelors degree in biology while picking up NAIA All-America honors six times in sprint events. He qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials and was a three-time Master Swimming All-American in 1985.
Marchionda and his wife Hope have two children, Jacob (7) and Mason (five months).
Courtesy WKU Media Relations
