The American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) announced today the 2023 class of inductees in the ASCA Hall of Fame will be longtime club coach and founder of Quest Swimming Dudley Duncan and North Carolina State Associate Head Coach Mark Bernardino.
These outstanding coaches will be inducted into the ASCA Hall of Fame at an awards dinner on September 7, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. at the Dallas Sheraton during the 2023 ASCA World Clinic.
The American Swimming Coaches Association has been recognizing the greatest swimming coaches in the United States since 1958 by inducting them in the prestigious ASCA Hall of Fame. Inductees have developed the most accomplished athletes and programs in our sport and have contributed to the history and success of American swimming. Through their accomplishments, they have elevated the sport of swimming in the United States and around the world.
About the Inductees:
Photo Courtesy: NC State Athletics
Mark Bernardino
A longtime member of the USA National Team staff, Mark Bernardino joined NC State as an associate head coach in 2018. Bernardino came to NC State following four seasons as associate head coach at South Carolina. Prior to that, he served as head coach at Virginia from 1978 to 2013.Bernardino has helped both the NC State men’s and women’s teams secure top-eight finishes at the NCAA Championships that past two years. During his tenure at Virginia, the Cavaliers captured a combined 27 ACC Championships. His 510 career victories rank fifth all-time in NCAA swimming, and he coached five NCAA individual champion swimmers, three NCAA record performances, and 13 Olympians. Having coached such a large number of elite athletes, Bernardino has coached at least one NCAA or USA Swimming National Champion each year of the last four consecutive decades.
Photo Courtesy: American Swimming Coaches Association
Dudley Duncan
Best known for his Olympians Whitney Hedgepath and Rada Owens, Coach Duncan recently retired as the head coach and founder of Quest Swimming in Richmond, Virginia. He started the team in 2003 and it quickly became a powerhouse developing athletes who competed at the highest level of the sport, including American Record holders Jeffrey Newkirk and Maddy Banic, as well as USA National Team member Clark Beach. Prior to Quest, Coach Duncan was the architect of the merger that created Poseidon Swimming and was its Head Coach. Poseidon had dozens of athletes succeed at the national level and was a perennial top team at Junior Nationals throughout the 90’s.
Early in his career, Coach Duncan coached Bounty Otters Swim Club from 1974-1977. This team later would become the Old Dominion Aquatic Club. Duncan then spent a year as the Head Coach of the Indian River Swim Club, before heading back “home” to Virginia to lead the Virginia Association for Competitive Swimming (VACS) from 1978-1989. There he led VACS to all sorts of success at both Junior Nationals and Senior Nationals. His time at VACS culminated with 8 swimmers attending the 1988 Olympic Trials and his star swimmer, Whitney Hedgepeth, making the US Olympic Team in the 200 IM. Whitney would go on to win medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, as well.