The following is a press release courtesy of U.S. Army Swimming & Diving:
WEST POINT, N.Y. – After serving as an assistant swimming and diving coach at Army West Point for four seasons, Eric Bugby has been promoted to Associate Head Coach, announced by head coach Mickey Wender Tuesday.
“It is my honor to have the opportunity to elevate Eric Bugby to the position of Associate Head Coach for Army West Point swimming and diving,” said Wender. “I have the utmost respect for Eric and I am so grateful for his loyalty and support over the past five years. He is an incredibly hard working coach and has consistently sought more responsibility in every aspect of our program.”
This past season, Bugby helped lead the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams to winning records. The last time both teams had a winning record was the 2004-05 season. The women finished 8-4 overall and 5-2 in the Patriot League, while the men went 10-3 and 6-1 in conference meets. During the 2014-15 season, 14 Academy records were broken and eight plebe standards were set. Out of the pool, Bugby is the program’s recruiting coordinator and directs the sprint group at practices.
“As a former head coach Eric has a unique perspective on what it takes to run a program,” added Wender. “He is tireless in his efforts to help our team fulfill its full potential in and out of the pool. We complement each other well and I know he shares my vision for the direction of the program. We’re a good team and I have no doubt that the best is yet to come for Army West Point swimming and diving.”
Bugby returned to Army West Point after serving a one-year stint as the head swimming coach and aquatics director at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Prior to that he served as an assistant coach with the Emmaus Aquatic Club in Emmaus, Pa. Within the last 18 months, he has also coached for Middle Atlantic Swimming, Lehigh Valley Aquatics and Freedom High School.
While at Freedom High, he developed several All-Americans, saw three school records fall and guided the team to its first points at the PIAA state meet in 15 years.
Bugby served as a graduate assistant coach at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., from 2007-09 while earning his master’s degree in Higher and Postsecondary Education. While at ASU, Bugby assisted in practice planning and the sprint and stroke power circuits.
Bugby swam collegiately at Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa., from 2002-07 while pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and Humanities. In the pool, Bugby held down a world ranking in the 100 LCM backstroke (2003), while also qualifying for the 2004 Olympic trials in that event.
