Brad Smith has been named the Head Women’s and Men’s Swimming and Diving Coach at Youngstown State, Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Ron Strollo announced on Tuesday.
Smith previously served as the Head Women’s and Men’s Swimming and Diving Coach at Binghamton for the past five years. He also spent two campaigns as the Head Coach at Western Colorado, and he was an assistant coach at Maine from 2009-12.
At Binghamton, Smith coached six America East/ECAC Champions while his teams set 39 freshmen, pool, school and conference records in his tenure. Both programs were consistently honored by the CSCAA for their success in the classroom.
“I’m thankful and excited to join Youngstown State University as the next head swimming & diving coach,” Smith said. “It was clear to me during the interview process that Youngstown State is committed to excellence in athletics, academics, and providing their student-athletes with an exceptional experience. That is something I value and greatly respect. I’m looking forward to working with the current Penguin swimmers and divers and to helping build the program to new heights.”
Strollo said Smith is a perfect to be the leader of both the current women’s team and newly-forming men’s program.
“In meeting with Coach Smith, he demonstrated a clear vision of what he wants our program to become, and we are thrilled to have him coach our swimming and diving programs at Youngstown State,” Strollo said. “His programs at Binghamton had success in the pool and were outstanding in the classroom. He will be a great addition for our current women’s swimmers and divers, and we are excited about him developing our men’s program.”
During the past two years, the Bearcats men’s program has finished runner-up at the America East Conference championship meet under Smith. At the most recent conference meet, Binghamton had 12 all-league selections – seven on the men’s side and five on the women’s side. Additionally, the program had four men’s student-athletes named academic all-conference. The women’s team posted a 7-1 dual record while the men’s team finished 4-1 in dual contests in 2018-19.
In 2017-18, Smith guided the men’s team to a runner-up finish at the America East Championships. The Bearcats recorded two first-place finishes and four second-place finishes at the championships. Ross Bernstein was named the America East Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athlete at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season. The men finished 3-3 in duals while the women recorded a 5-3 finish.
Binghamton’s men’s program was a member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference prior to joining the women in the America East. At its final appearance in the ECAC meet, the men placed fourth out of 23 schools. In 2015 and 20166, the Bearcats also finished in fourth place.
Smith was named the head women’s coach at Western Colorado in 2012 and was given the responsibility of starting the program from scratch. The Mountaineers had not had a swimming and diving program since 1984. In his two years at the helm, Smith oversaw a squad that produced an NCAA qualifier, set 84 team and pool records and was named a Scholar All-American team in 2014. In addition, Western Colorado had an all-conference swimmer and three academic all-conference honorees during his tenure.
At Maine, Smith was the assistant coach when the Black Bear men’s squad placed fourth at the 2011 America East Championships – their highest finish in a decade. During his final two years, Maine broke a total of 21 school records.
A 2007 graduate of Vermont, Smith was a four-year letterwinner for the Catamounts. The following two years, he was the Director of Women’s Swimming Operations at Vermont and also was the men’s club team coach.
— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Youngstown State. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.