Mariusz Podkościelny
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Mariusz Podkościelny (born April 29, 1968 in Gdańsk) is a former freestyle swimmer from Poland, who twice competed at the Summer Olympics: in 1988 and 1992. Representing the Polish National Team, Podkoscielny finished fifth in both the 400m and 1500m Freestyle at the 1988 Summer Olympics, and set the Olympic record that same year in the preliminaries in the 400m Freestyle.
Podkościelny graduated from the University of Arizona in 1992 with a B.A. in political science. There he began a career as a swimming coach, first serving as a volunteer assistant in 1992 before being promoted to an assistant men and women's swimming coach in 1993. Podkoscielny spent three seasons at Arizona before being named the head coach at Oregon State University.
Podkościelny spent the seven seasons as the women's swimming coach at Oregon State. He is credited with engineering Oregon State's rise from mediocrity to one of the country's more competitive programs. During his tenure with The Beavers, 107 swimmers set new school records and his teams went a combined 40-38 overall in the highly competitive PAC-10 Conference. In his last three seasons at OSU, each of his teams qualified for the NCAA Championships.
The Beavers' rise to respectability was rapid under Podkościelny. Prior to his tenure, Oregon State had not had a winning record in dual-meet competition in five years. Oregon State also had two All-Americans in the same year for the first time the program's history and the Beavers' No. 31 ranking at the close of the season was the team's highest ever.
Podkościelny's success in the coaching ranks stems from his personal experience as swimmer. One of the most highly decorated swimmers in Arizona history, Podkoscielny was a 16-time All-American and won a National Championship in the 1650y Freestyle as a freshman. While at Arizona, Podkościelny set school records in the 200, 500, and 1650y Freestyle and in each of his four years finished among the top three nationally in 500 and 1650y Freestyle.
In 2003 Podkościelny was named head coach at the University of Miami. In his first season at the helm of the Hurricanes' swimming program in 2003-04, Podkoscielny led a Miami squad composed of eleven newcomers to a dual record of 5-7, highlighted by wins over Michigan State, Houston and inner-city rival Florida International. Podkościelny sent 11 Miami swimmers to the BIG EAST Championships in his first season, posting an eighth-place finish overall at the conference championships.
In 2004-05, Podkościelny coached the Hurricanes in their inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Two Miami swimmers set school records while at the ACC Championships. Sophomore Ashley Knapp broke the school record in the 100m Backstroke with a time 57.23 while senior Katalin Ferenzci tied her 200m Backstroke record, which she set in 2004, with a time of 2:01.69.
In 2003-04, Podkościelny coached two Hurricane swimmers to three school record-breaking performances with sophomore Martyna Krawczyk snapping the UM mark in the 200-breaststroke at the 2004 BIG EAST Championships with a time of 2:15.34 and junior Katalin Ferenczi breaking her previous UM mark in the 200m Backstroke with a time of 2:01.69 at the BIG EAST Championships and matched her record time in the 100m Backstroke at the Minnesota Invitational with a time of 57.26.
2006-present, teaches Modern World History at Pine Crest School, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Kids love his Polish accent. He also coaches the age group swimming at Pine Crest and is the study hall proctor for both the 6th and 8th grade study hall.
