John Brucato, Founder of Bellarmine Swimming Program, Retires After 12 Seasons

Bellarmine head swimming coach John Brucato, the only head coach in the program’s history, will step down from his position effective July 1. Brucato helped found the men’s and women’s swimming programs in 2012, leading multiple student-athletes to All-America status at the D2 level before overseeing the program’s transition to NCAA Division I athletics.

Brucato divulged two years ago that he was diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), but has continued to coach.

“It is with great respect for our student-athletes, gratitude for the wonderful opportunity afforded to me, and wonderful memories of our swimming family, that I announce my retirement from the Bellarmine University men’s and women’s swim teams,” Brucato said.  “Since coming to Bellarmine in 2012 to begin a swim team until now, I have been blessed with an opportunity to be a part of the Knights Nation of student-athletes, fellow coaches and administrative support staff.

Brucato also handed a number of “thank yous” to the people who helped him in his tenure as coach.

“I want to thank Scott Wiegandt for his vision to bring swimming to Bellarmine and giving me the tools to build a successful program, and I want to thank all the swimmers, their families and our coaching staff for helping me through the past two seasons since my diagnosis with ALS. Finally, I want to thank Jan, my wife and love of my life, for helping me navigate through the challenges associated with this disease and being by my side for 37 years.”

Assistant coach Gord Veldman will become interim coach after Brucato’s tenure officially ends on July 1. Veldman has served as Brucato’s assistant for the last 8 seasons. He’s a former member of the Canadian National Team and was a conference champion at Western Kentucky University.

“Coach Brucato is an amazing man, and I am very fortunate to have had him as a mentor coach over the past eight years,” Veldman said. “He has had a tremendously positive impact on our swimmers and this university.  It is an honor to succeed John, and I look forward to the challenge of maintaining and building on the high standards he has set.”

Last season, Bellarmine’s women finished last out of 11 teams at the CCSA Championships, and the men’s team finished 5th out of 5 teams in the school’s second season in the conference and fourth in D1.

The men’s team’s top finisher at last year’s CCSA Championships Jacob Dray, who won a silver in the 100 fly , was a senior and has not yet announced the intention to return for a 5th season. They do return Sam Jones, who as a freshman last season was 3rd in the 1650 free at the CCSA Championships.

The Knights men broke three school records last season, all by seniors:

• 50 free – Will O’Connor, 20.32 (senior)
• 100 free – Will O’Connor, 45.85 (senior)
• 100 fly – Jacob Dray, 46.80 (senior)

The women had two school records fall during the season, one by a freshman and one by a sophomore, so they’ll hand off a solid young core to the program’s new leadership:

• 100 back – Lauren Diercks, 56.55 (freshman)
• 200 IM – Alexandra Pierce, 2:05.46 (sophomore)

Bellarmine had among its best season in D2 right before transitioning to D1. In 2020, their last season in D2, the women finished in 18th place, and in 2019, the men finished 27th, scoring for the first (and last) time.

Prior to his time at Bellarmine, Brucato spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky while also serving as the head coach of the Wildcat Aquatics club team since 1990. He is a former Kentucky Swimming Coach of the Year, in addition to being a Select Camp coach and an Olympic Festival coach.

During his time at the helm of Wildcat Aquatics, Brucato produced numerous top-16 qualifiers, Junior National qualifiers, Junior National champions, Senior National qualifiers and an Olympic gold medalist, Megan Kleine, in 1992. While at Wildcat Aquatic, Brucato also played a major role in the development of Elaine Breeden, who swam the 100- and 200-meter butterfly in the 2008 Olympics and was a two-time NCAA champion at Stanford University.

Brucato, a native of Covington, Kentucky, is a 1985 graduate of Northern Kentucky University where he received a degree in psychology. Brucato and his wife, Jan, have a daughter, Katie, who is a graduate of Bellarmine University.