Men's Swimming and Diving
- Title:
- Volunteer Coach
- Alma Mater:
- Fifth season
A significant contributor to Lehigh Athletics for more than 40 years, Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall Fame member Bruce Gardiner is in his sixth season as a volunteer coach with the Lehigh swimming and diving program.
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Gardiner initially came to Lehigh in 1972 and spent 17 years as Lehigh’s head swimming and diving coach. From there he moved on to Lehigh University’s Admissions area where he assumed the responsibility of the admissions for all prospective student-athletes, a position he held for 22 years until his retirement at the end of the 2010-11 academic year. Gardiner had several stints as Lehigh's interim Director of Admissions, before assuming the role on a permanent basis in 2003 and holding the position for his final eight years.
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As head swimming coach, Gardiner oversaw the elevation on the women's swimming and diving program to varsity status in 1974 and took over as head coach of the women's program in 1980. He amassed a career record of 111-72, a winning percentage of .607 which at the time was the highest for any swimming coach in Lehigh's history.
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In 1976, Gardiner was appointed as Lehigh's first aquatic director, a position which gave him oversight of all phases of swimming and aquatics at the University. In the mid-1980s, he developed the men's and women's swimming and diving teams into contenders within the East Coast Conference. Gardiner mentored nine men and three women to a total of 20 individual ECC titles from 1976-88. In 1989, Gardiner turned over the swimming and diving programs to Chris Marshall '88, a student-athlete Gardiner recruited, coached and mentored, who went on to a stellar coaching career of his own.
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In his 22 years in admissions, Gardiner was responsible for the admission of every student-athlete to be part of a Patriot League Championship team, and the admission of more than 90 percent of the school record holders across all of Lehigh's varsity sports.
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A native of Port Chester, N.Y., Gardiner graduated from Springfield College in Massachusetts in 1968 and added a master's degree in higher education from Springfield in 1972. Gardiner is married to his wife Kathy. He has two children, James and Heather '98, and three grandchildren.
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