Article was originally published on January 12; updated on January 14.
Swim coach Todd Clark died on Sunday after facing a medical event while walking into the WAAC Winter Age Group Open meet at West Allegheny Senior High School. He was 61 years old.
Clark most recently is the head coach of Steel City Aquatics in Pittsburgh, where he has worked since 2020. He was promoted to head coach in 2024.
Clark had over 35 years of experience as a head swimming coach at different levels, and has served three years on the USA Swimming National Team staff and has placed two athletes on the US National Junior Team, including open water swimmer Claire Pophal and pool swimmer Rachel Zilinskas.
Prior to his time at Steel City, he worked with the Lake Erie Silver Dolphins and the Hawken School in Cleveland. LESD earned USA Swimming Silver Medal status under Clark’s leadership, and his high school teams won four state titles.
Prior to that he worked as a coach at Peters Township High School and with the Fox Chapel Killer Whales in the Pittsburgh area.
In the college ranks, Clark worked as the assistant head coach at his alma mater Kenyon in 1988, where both the men and women won NCAA Division III titles.
After one year there he was named the head coach at another D3 school: Case Western Reserve University. In 13 years there, he coached 44 All-Americans and two individual NCAA Division III National Champions. His teams twice had the highest GPAs in college swimming.
As an athlete, he was a seven time All-American at Kenyon and a five-time USMS National Champion.
Clark also extended his touch on the sport beyond his own coaching, serving as the Senior Chair for Allegheny Mountain Swimming and leading several LSC training camps.
Part of a swim coaching power couple, his wife Marian is the head coach of Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics. They have three children, Maiti, Mara, and Mac.
According to Steel City Aquatics team president Matt Puthoff, the team is grieving but also celebrating his life and the “powerful, positive impact he made on thousands of lives.”
“Todd and his wife, Marian, have been stalwarts of our community for years, and we want to ensure his story is told—not just for the sake of his impressive resume, but for the family he leaves behind,” Puthoff said. “Todd was immensely proud of his son, who is currently in the middle of his freshman year at the University of Tennessee. He so often shared pictures of his son experiencing life in Knoxville, and that pride was evident to everyone who knew him.
“The selflessness Todd possessed was unmatched; he sacrificed countless hours away from his own family to help us and our families become better people. His coaching went far beyond the stopwatch. His pep talks were usually simple and to the point, and more often than not, a swimmer would leave that conversation with a smile on their face. He was a constant, welcoming presence on the deck at big meets, offering a big hardy handshake, a huge hug, and a laugh so distinct you could hear it from the stands.”
Celebration of Life
A Celebration of Life in memory of Coach Clark will be held on Sunday, January 18, 2026 at St. David’s Episcopal Church from 2PM-5PM.
Todd Clark Celebration of Life Details (click to enlarge)
life is so short. .moves pretty fast. .this should make people look at what are the signs; stress,diet, tech-freqency overload reeking havoc on our cells/organs. .do all your medical tests, self evaluate lifestyle too. .but also look into N.E.T to see ‘what’s up’ with your mind-body connection (mental-emotional/chemical/physical). Google: “NETmindbody find practitioner near me”. .be curios. .61 is YOUNG. .but he DID accomplish so much and had a positive effect on the sport and the lives in many ways. Seems he ‘did good’, lived a good life. Look after his family.
I’m so saddened by this news. I swam with Todd at Kenyon (he was a senior captain when I was a freshman). He was also assistant coach at Kenyon while I was there. He was a great guy, a lot of fun to be around. My thoughts and prayers go out to this family.
Heartbroken by the news as everyone else who knew Todd. It’s been 27 years since I swam at CWRU. Not a week goes by when I don’t think of my time being coached by Todd. He is the measuring stick that I use to this day to gauge if someone is a true friend, if someone is a trusty colleague, if my kids are doing the best they can in whatever they do, and if I do all I can to be the best person. Rest in peace, Todd, may God bless your family, and I will always remember you as one of the kindest, honest, and dedicated people I ever came across.
It’s taken a few days to process this. I first met Todd when we swam against each other in college. He was swimming for the legendary Jim Steen Kenyon team and I swam for Allegheny College. The NCAC conference meet at the time was as fast as Nationals and very fun. He was very fast and very humble – treated us all as champions and was just a great role model – an electric personality on the small Oberlin deck.
Fast forward 25 years and we reconnected as we both coached in Allegheny Mountain. Our kids swam distance events and we spent many, many final sessions at meets, alone on deck with our kids counting for each other, as… Read more »
Very sad news. I first met Todd on the pool deck when CWRU first traveled to CMU’s new pool in the mid-late 90’s. As an NCAA and High School swimming official, I interacted with Todd in a different capacity. However, after reviewing the comments posted here by former club and college swimmers, I now realize that Todd treated me in the same kind heartfelt manner as he nurtured his kids.
RIP Todd. Prayers for Marian and the entire family.
I am a young swimmer of him. I even witnessed his death after the meet. It was so devastating, but I know he’s in a better place now. “For coach!” I would say.
God bless his family. He helped my children develop into great swimmers and adults while swimming at Fox Chapel. Such a wonderful coach and more importantly just a really nice person.
As a former Pitt swimmer and mentee of Marian and Todd, he has the most contagious, helpful, kind, and selfless attitude I’ve ever experienced. He lights up a room when he walks in, always gives you a hug, and wants to help everyone and anyone that needs it. He helped me with my first time coaching high school swim and I didn’t even need to ask. He will forever be a part of my college experience and my journey into coaching.