Courtesy: Westminster Athletics
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa.–Director of Athletics Jason Lener ’93 announced Monday that Todd Slobodnyak ’12 has been named the head coach of the Westminster College men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs.
“I’d like to thank Dr. Kathy Brittain Richardson, Jason Lener and the entire Westminster community for both the opportunity and the honor to lead these programs,” Slobodnyak said. “It’s incredibly exciting to be back on campus and will be a ton of fun bringing out the best in our student-athletes. I am already looking forward to finding as many ways as possible to connect the past, present and future of these programs.”
Slobodnyak returns to his alma mater after spending the last eight years as the head swimming coach at Cranberry Township’s Rose E. Schneider Family YMCA. He was instrumental in establishing the RESY Riptide club program in 2016, which has grown into one of Western Pennsylvania’s premier programs. He has overseen all aspects of RESY’s competitive programs, including new swimmer recruitment, developing technique through a variety of technical training and in-water drill sessions. Slobodnyak has produced 12 national qualifiers and has close to a dozen swimmers competing across all three NCAA divisions.
In 2017, Slobodnyak also took over as head coach with the high school programs at Mars High School and North Catholic High School, where he was responsible for season planning, coordinating transportation and meet management. Eleven of his swimmers have qualified for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Championships. North Catholic’s 200-yard medley relay (1:35.80), along with Luke Lamb’s performance in the 100 backstroke (48.68), set new Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) records over the last two seasons.
Slobodnyak served as the head swimming coach at the Sampson Family YMCA in Plum while coaching under Shawn Haupt, at 2002 Westminster graduate, at Plum High School in 2012 and 2013.
“We are thrilled that Todd and his family are joining the Westminster Titan family,” said Lener. “I believe our student-athletes are going to benefit tremendously from his experience and his passion for the sport, and along with his great energy and innovative thinking, he’s going to be a terrific fit in our department. Todd is a hard-working leader committed to excellence that is going to pour his heart and soul into this. His vision for the program really aligns with our goals of consistently competing at a high level while also providing a meaningful educational experience for our students.”
The Monroeville native and Gateway High School swimmer graduated from Westminster with a bachelor’s degree in biology. Voted a team captain twice, he was a two-time Second Team All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) performer with the Titans.
Slobodnyak begins April 22. He, his wife Janelle and their children Violet, Samson and Skyla reside in New Castle.
Go Todd! Had the opportunity to be coached by Todd a while back and am thrilled for Westminster to have such a respected and motivating figure heading their program. I can’t wait to cheer the Titans on!
Way to go coach. We’ll miss you at the WPIAL level. And, we’ll miss you at the ISCA Meets too. But, perhaps you can bring the squad to the ISCA Senior Meets.
The North Catholic and MARS teams need a new coach I guess too?
Maybe he can finally make the conference competitive again and not just an intrasquad meet for their crosstown rivals???