MEDFORD, MA (February 5, 2024) - Former men's swimming coach and Tufts Athletics Hall of Famer Don Megerle has been selected for the Inaugural Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Division III Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
Coach Megerle and the other inductees will be honored at the Annual CSCAA Convention Banquet that will be held on May 6, 2024 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Indianapolis.
Megerle was much more than just a successful leader of the Jumbo men's swimming and diving teams for 33 seasons (1971-2004). He was a seven-time New England or NESCAC Coach of the Year, whose teams compiled a dual meet record of 268-81. At the NCAA championship meet, 92 of his swimmers posted All-American performances, including two national champions.
However, it was his mentoring of these student-athletes that stood out even more than his coaching technique. Those who came to Tufts to swim for "Coach" entered into a lifetime relationship with their mentor. Also a widely respected NCAA championship meet coordinator for more than 30 years, he earned numerous awards, including the National Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming Trophy, the CSCAA's highest honor. His Tufts career now spans over 50 years, as he continues mentoring Jumbos as Tufts Marathon Coach.
"Coach" was inducted into the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame last June.
"Coach was completely unique," said Marc Benvenuti, a 1996 graduate of Tufts and the current head men's swimming and diving coach at Connecticut College. "He coached you as a person, a student, and an athlete. I don't believe anyone else has ever put all of those things together the way Coach did. Tufts would not have been Tufts without him."
In May 2023 the CSCAA Board of Directors approved a CSCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame. This Hall honors and celebrates the former swimmers, divers, and retired coaches who have made a significant impact on the sport of swimming and diving within Division III.
> Read the CSCAA Release
HERE
--JUMBOS--
