American University Men's Swimming

Davin photos     Click here to view and purchase Mark Davin photos Mark Davin returns in 2014-15 for his 19th season at the helm of the mens and womens swimming program. Throughout his tenure, Davin has been steadfast in his demand for excellence both in the water and in the classroom. His team has had a combined 115 individual and relay conference champions, while 193 student-athletes have been selected to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll since joining the conference in 2001-02. His emphasis on the development of the complete student-athlete has allowed his team to tally seven semesters of recording the highest team GPA of all NCAA Division I swimming and diving programs. The 2013-14 season saw standout performances for both the mens and womens swimming programs throughout the campaign. The men's team finished in six place at the Patriot League Championships. Junior diver Melissa Parker was named to the PL All-Academic Team while the program earned CSCAA Scholar All-America Team honors. Additionally, in the classroom, Davin led the Eagles to CSCAA Scholar All-America Honors for the 39th straight semester. Past Success Davin took over a budding American University swimming and diving program in the fall of 1995 when it was still a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Over the next six seasons Davin coached six CAA Swimmers of the Year, five CAA Outstanding Meet Performers and three CAA Rookies of the Year. He led the 2001 mens team to a first-place finish in the CAA Championship meet while the mens and womens teams together broke six CAA records, earned 20 individual CAA Championship titles, and boasted five NCAA provisional qualifiers. During that same season, the mens squad finished a perfect 7-0. For this, as well as the previous years success, Davin was awarded the men's 2000 and 2001 CAA Coach of the Year Awards. After American joined the Patriot League in 2001-02, Davin continued to build a program based on athletic and academic success. In its first year of PL competition, he was awarded with the 2002 Patriot League Mens Coach of the Year award for leading the mens team to a second-place finish at the Patriot League Championships, which included seven new Patriot League records and two Academic All-Americans. In that same year, American swimming and diving had 21 Patriot League Academic Honor Roll selections, nine All-Patriot League selections, both Patriot League Scholar Athletes of the Year, and the highest team GPA of all mens NCAA Division I swimming and diving programs. Throughout his tenure in both the CAA and the PL, Davin has coached a number of noteable AU swimming alumni: In 2009, Davin coached Dory Isaacs to a 100 breastroke conference title with a school-record time of 1:01.23. She also went on to win an Eastern College Athletic Conference championship title in the same event, while setting the meet record with a 1:02.15. Isaacs was an NCAA National Championship B qualifier and a USA Short Course Swimming National Championship qualifier. In 2010, Davin led Matt Pelletier to a conference title in the 100 backstroke (49.61), while also guiding him to the school record in both the 50 free (20.49) and 100 back (48.89). Pelletier finished his career by earning three other spots on the programs all-time top-10 list, and garnering three All-Patriot League honors (First Team in 2010, and Second Team in 2008 and 2009). He also was a three-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll nominee, and holds two Reeves Aquatic Center pool records (200 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay). From 2004-08, Davin coached Meghan Thiel, a seven-time individual Patriot League champion. During her career at AU, Thiel was a four-time All-Patriot League First Team selection, three-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll nominee, and a two-time Patriot League Swimmer of the Year. She was also the 2005 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and the 2006 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Under Davins guidance, Thiel qualified for the NCAA National Championships in 2005 and 2006, as well as the Olympic Trials in 2004. The fastest female distance swimmer in program history, she currently holds the school record in the 200 free, 500 free, 1000 free, and 1650 free. Davin worked with Ethan Bassett from 2000 through 2004. In his career, Bassett garnered 13 individual and relay conference victories, four Academic All-American selections, and three All-Patriot League nominations. He was also a three-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll selection, a 2002 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and the 2001 CAA Rookie of the Year. Davin trained Bassett through the 2000 Olympic trials, and also led him to a seventh-place finish in the 200 breast at the 2004 Olympic Trials. He earned NCAA national qualifying times twice in the 200 breast (2003, 04) and once in the 500 freestyle (2004). Davin also guided Bassett to seven top-10 program rankings, as well as a Reeves Aquatic Center pool record in the 200 breaststroke. From 1999 through 2004, Davin guided Mark Liscinsky, one of the most decorated male swimmers in recent program history. In both the CAA and PL, Liscinsky was a 22-time individual and relay conference champion, a two-time PL Swimmer of the Year, and a two-time All-Patriot League selection. He garnered two Patriot League Academic Honor Roll nominations, the 2000 CAA Rookie of the Year award, and was a 2002 Academic All-American selection. Davin guided Liscinsky through the 2000 and 2004 Olympic trials, as well as the 2003 NCAA National Championships in the 200 IM, 200 free, and 200 back. Liscinsky solidified his legacy with five Reeves Aquatic Center pool records, four school records, and eight other top-10 program rankings. From 2000 through 2003, Davin coached Dominic Szabo, a 14-time individual and relay Patriot League champion, a 2003 All-American, and a 2002 All-Patriot League selection. Szabo was also a 2000 and 2004 Olympic trials qualifier in the 100 breast and 200 breast. In 2003, Davin led Szabo to San Antonio, Texas for the NCAA National Championships. There, Szabo finished eighth in the 100 breaststroke with a school-record time of 53.77. Throughout his tenure at AU, Davin has also led numerous other American University athletes to simultaneous conference titles and the Olympic Trials qualifying swims, including Jessica Lidstrom (2004), Junkal Irigoien (2002), Steine Lindman (2002), Frank Byskov (2001), Will Maher (2001) and Rebecca Santos (2001). Before coming to American, Davin spent four years as head coach of the Fort Lauderdale Swim Team, which won the 1994 Summer Nationals, the 1994 U.S. Open and the 1995 Spring Senior Nationals. His collegiate coaching career began at California-Berkeley where he was the assistant for a mens team that won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1979 and 1980. From there, Davin took the assistant reins for the womens team at Arizona State, bringing home a fourth-place finish at the Collegiate Nationals during the 1980-81 season. From 1981-90, Davin coached the Swim Devils throughout Arizona, during which time he guided 12 athletes to the Olympic Trials. He was the assistant mens swimming coach at Pittsburgh from 1990-92 where he helped guide the Panthers to back-to-back Big East titles and top 25 national rankings. The founder of the Arizona Swimming Coaches Association, Davin is a graduate of Florida State with a degree in behavioral psychology. He was a member of the Seminole team that captured a pair of National Independent Conference Championships. Upon graduation, Davin was an assistant coach for the Narcoossee Swim Team in Tallahassee, Fla., before joining the Pleasant Hill Swim Club in Pleasant Hill, Calif. A native of St. Petersburg, Fla., Davin currently resides in Maryland. Mark Davin By The Numbers in his 18 Seasons at American University   Member of the Patriot League (2002-Present)   Mark Davin By The Numbers in his 18 Seasons at American University

Barry, beginning his fifth year as American Universitys diving coach in 2012-13, has continued the programs success. His AU career has been highlighted by four-year diver Kelsey Monarch, who posted three top-10 conference finishes and two other top-16 finishes between the one and three meter diving competitions between 2008-11. Monarch also has the fifth-highest one meter diving score in program history, and is ranked 10th in the three meter in program history. On the mens side, James Fleming is ranked eighth in program history in the one meter and 10th in the three meter, and was honored on the 2011 inaugural Academic All-Patriot League Team. In the 2011-12 campaign, freshman Melissa Parker took the diving program to a new level, earning ECAC Female Diver of the Meet honors. Barrys diving career began in 1970 at the age of seven. During his youth, Barry competed in the Northern Virginia Swimming and Diving League, one of the largest leagues in the country. Throughout his decorated career, he won numerous dual, relay, and divisional titles. In the mid 1980s, Barry performed in professional diving exhibitions up and down the East Coast from Maryland up to Canada. Barrys travels as a competitive diver allowed him to absorb the finer points of diving and coaching while working alongside some of the great competitive and acrobatic divers of the day. Aside from his work at AU, Barry coaches several divers competing at the national level under Dominion Dive Club, a U.S. diving team in Fairfax, Va. He also leads a program in the winter, intended to keep interested young divers in the pool during the colder months. During the summer, Barry draws over 70 young divers to his program at Overlee Swim Club. He also coaches at an Arlington Public Middle and High School, where his son and daughter now compete.