Last month, Division II Bentley University head coach Mary Kay Samko hit a remarkable milestone. With the men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams overtaking Norwich University on December 8th, Samko reached her 500th and 501st dual meet wins as a collegiate head coach.
Samko has been an NCAA head coach for an astounding 37 years, with the latter 23 of those years being spent with Bentley. Prior to Bentley, Samko has served as the head coach at Division III Tufts University, Division II Southern Connecticut State University, and Division III University of the South (Sewanee).
Samko has certainly made her mark at Bentley, though, where she has led the teams to 408 dual meet wins in 23 years.
It’s hard to find substantial information regarding the winningest swim coaches in NCAA history. The all-time leader for a single-gender team (Samko has amassed wins from both men’s and women’s dual victories) is Yale’s Robert Kiphuth, who totaled 528 wins in a 41-year stretch with the Bulldog men. Boston College’s Tim Groden recently retired with a combined 785 wins from men’s and women’s teams, while Frank Comfort compiled 565 combined wins between coaching Johns Hopkins and UNC-Chapel Hill.
At any rate, climbing to 500 wins, combined gender or not, is a significant milestone that few coaches can hang their hats on. The Bentley men are on a win streak, having won their last 28 dual meets, while the women are at 16. They’ll resume their season with a January 10th match-up with St. Michael’s — both the men and women defeated St. Michael’s last season.