Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame
Marshall, Chris
Chris Marshall
- Induction:
- 2019
- Class:
- 1988
Chris Marshall helped build more than a program.
He built the Lehigh swimming and diving family.
“We had a pretty simple approach,” said Marshall. “If you asked any swimmer on the team what Lehigh swimming is all about, they would say we have fun, we train hard and we swim fast. That became the underlying mission of the program.
“Having fun dealt with being part of the family, being part of the team,” Marshall continued. “If you get the first part right, training hard is easier and if you train hard and you have the right talent on the team, you’re going to swim fast and you’re going to win.”
Marshall was a winner, leading the program to unprecedented levels. In his tenure as head men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach from 1989 to 2001, he was a five-time Patriot League Men’s Coach of the Year and three-time Women’s honoree. He helped Lehigh capture its first-ever Patriot League team titles (women in 1998 and men in 1999), also winning women’s championships in 2000 and 2001.
It may be the honors and accomplishments that made Marshall a Lehigh Athletics Hall of Famer, but he is a Hall of Famer because of much more.
“Chris had a certain personality and certain qualities he embraced, which focused on the most important things in his life – the people around him,” said Lehigh current head swimming and diving coach Rob Herb, who was volunteer assistant coach under Chris early in his career.
“Chris brought a focus on people into his coaching world.”
Dating back to Chris’ time as a student-athlete, Lehigh University became such an important part of Marshall’s life. An unimaginable family tragedy when Chris was a freshman at Lehigh, losing both his parents, helped reinforce the importance of the Lehigh family to him.
It’s a feeling Marshall carried forward, and helped shape who he is today.
“Your whole life gets flipped upside down,” he said. “I started to fight through the challenges and found that Lehigh surrounded me with support in every way.”
One of those support pieces was Lehigh Associate Dean of Students Mark Erickson.
“The minute you get to know Chris, you see his depth and his genuineness,” said Erickson. “Things blossomed into me going to every swim meet from there on out, and he became really close with my family. What struck me from the time Chris was a student, in the midst of this tragedy beyond all belief, was his resilience, his passion and his heart.”
Another big supporter for Chris was fellow Lehigh Athletics Hall of Famer Bruce Gardiner, his coach.
“Bruce became like a father to me and is someone I’m still close with to this day,” said Marshall.
Marshall took a number of Gardiner’s values forward into his own coaching career. Chris served as graduate assistant under Bruce during the 1988-89 school year. Then in August of 1989, Marshall received a phone call from Dean of Athletics Joe Sterrett, who asked if he’d be willing to serve as interim head coach.
“Bruce was moving over to admissions,” said Marshall. “Joe said he’d like me to take the team for a year and we’ll figure out what we’re going to do longer-term. Three hours later, I was on campus signing papers. It was an opportunity of a lifetime; Joe gave that to me and he mentored me as an employee and young coach.”
Marshall went from a student-athlete, one year removed from college, to 23-year old head coach, even coaching several former teammates.
“I went from being their roommate, buddy and friend – we still stayed friends – but I became their head coach,” he said. “It was bizarre. I was a 23-year old coaching people who were two years younger than me.”
Age is only a number as Marshall had a way about himself that brought out the best in others. He went on to develop a program that focused on many values, including family. By focusing on a strong culture, he knew the results would come.
The results started to come for Lehigh in 1994. During the 1994 Patriot League championships, Lehigh finished in second place by less than nine points to Army (695.5 to 687 points).
“We came so close to winning the whole thing,” said Marshall. “That was a sign we could actually do this and break through.”
Beating the academies was a significant hurdle to breaking through, but that day would come for Marshall’s program…
Lehigh continued to enjoy success in the ensuing years. Then in 1998, Lehigh won its first-ever Patriot League swimming and diving title, either gender, as the women took home the crown with ease.
“The women winning in 1998 wasn’t a surprise,” said Marshall. “We were definitely a contender, but the surprise was how much we dominated.”
The women finished the league championships with 642.5 points, ahead of Army in second with 608.
The following year in 1999, it was the Lehigh men’s turn.
“Joe Sterrett came down to watch the Saturday night session at the Patriot League championship meet,” said Marshall. “To win one event at night is a big deal. We won five of the six events that night. We were untouchable. At that point, the snowball was rolling and we were gaining momentum.”
There was an intermission before the final event, the 400 freestyle relay. That’s when Marshall realized no matter what happened moving forward, Lehigh had secured the championship.
“I went to tell Joe so he was aware, and he was on his way down to ask the same question,” said Marshall. “We ended up meeting in the stairway.
“At that point in 1999, I had been his coach for 10 years and we had been second a number of times on the men’s side,” Marshall continued. “When I told him we had won, his eyes popped out of his head. I said we did it. You could see the pride that we finally beat one of the academies and it validated everything.
“Everything came together in that moment. Joe shook my hand, gave me a pat on the back and was about to walk away when I said ‘thanks for taking a chance on me 10 years ago as a 23-year old who knew nothing. I knew I was going to prove it one of these days.’”
That moment was the tangible reward of developing the Lehigh swimming and diving family. In reality, everyone involved in the program was already reaping the benefits. Championships were just affirmation.
“I knew the swimmers and they were as close-knit a group as I had seen,” said Erickson. “I would sit at the pool for hours watching all those men and women swim and you could just see the love they had for their coach. You could see also the love he had for them. He pushed them and challenged them, but thought of them as family. They knew that.”
“When Chris brought people into the program, they knew they were part of something not like anything else,” said Herb. “Chris was about making sure it was a cohesive unit, a good group of people who enjoyed being around each other, which is still the foundation of our program today.
“It really stems from him.”
Marshall truly left a lasting legacy. In the pool, the Lehigh men’s or women’s team won a Patriot League crown from 1998 through 2002. By 2002, Marshall had moved onto a position in the Lehigh Alumni Relations Office, but his presence continued to be felt within Lehigh swimming and diving over the ensuing years, and today.
“Chris still comes around and continues to show support for the Lehigh swimming and diving family, and the athletes feel that,” said Herb. “They know who Chris Marshall is. He takes an interest and still comes and talks to the athletes themselves. He’s shown incredible loyalty.
“If we’re going to put somebody in the Hall of Fame, we couldn’t ask for a better person than Chris Marshall. His love for Lehigh is true and not blue, but brown.”
“Chris may be getting into the Hall of Famer for being a very good swimmer, outstanding coach and phenomenal recruiter, but boy he is a Hall of Fame person,” said Erickson.
He built the Lehigh swimming and diving family.
“We had a pretty simple approach,” said Marshall. “If you asked any swimmer on the team what Lehigh swimming is all about, they would say we have fun, we train hard and we swim fast. That became the underlying mission of the program.
“Having fun dealt with being part of the family, being part of the team,” Marshall continued. “If you get the first part right, training hard is easier and if you train hard and you have the right talent on the team, you’re going to swim fast and you’re going to win.”
Marshall was a winner, leading the program to unprecedented levels. In his tenure as head men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach from 1989 to 2001, he was a five-time Patriot League Men’s Coach of the Year and three-time Women’s honoree. He helped Lehigh capture its first-ever Patriot League team titles (women in 1998 and men in 1999), also winning women’s championships in 2000 and 2001.
It may be the honors and accomplishments that made Marshall a Lehigh Athletics Hall of Famer, but he is a Hall of Famer because of much more.
“Chris had a certain personality and certain qualities he embraced, which focused on the most important things in his life – the people around him,” said Lehigh current head swimming and diving coach Rob Herb, who was volunteer assistant coach under Chris early in his career.
“Chris brought a focus on people into his coaching world.”
Dating back to Chris’ time as a student-athlete, Lehigh University became such an important part of Marshall’s life. An unimaginable family tragedy when Chris was a freshman at Lehigh, losing both his parents, helped reinforce the importance of the Lehigh family to him.
It’s a feeling Marshall carried forward, and helped shape who he is today.
“Your whole life gets flipped upside down,” he said. “I started to fight through the challenges and found that Lehigh surrounded me with support in every way.”
One of those support pieces was Lehigh Associate Dean of Students Mark Erickson.
“The minute you get to know Chris, you see his depth and his genuineness,” said Erickson. “Things blossomed into me going to every swim meet from there on out, and he became really close with my family. What struck me from the time Chris was a student, in the midst of this tragedy beyond all belief, was his resilience, his passion and his heart.”
Another big supporter for Chris was fellow Lehigh Athletics Hall of Famer Bruce Gardiner, his coach.
“Bruce became like a father to me and is someone I’m still close with to this day,” said Marshall.
Marshall took a number of Gardiner’s values forward into his own coaching career. Chris served as graduate assistant under Bruce during the 1988-89 school year. Then in August of 1989, Marshall received a phone call from Dean of Athletics Joe Sterrett, who asked if he’d be willing to serve as interim head coach.
“Bruce was moving over to admissions,” said Marshall. “Joe said he’d like me to take the team for a year and we’ll figure out what we’re going to do longer-term. Three hours later, I was on campus signing papers. It was an opportunity of a lifetime; Joe gave that to me and he mentored me as an employee and young coach.”
Marshall went from a student-athlete, one year removed from college, to 23-year old head coach, even coaching several former teammates.
“I went from being their roommate, buddy and friend – we still stayed friends – but I became their head coach,” he said. “It was bizarre. I was a 23-year old coaching people who were two years younger than me.”
Age is only a number as Marshall had a way about himself that brought out the best in others. He went on to develop a program that focused on many values, including family. By focusing on a strong culture, he knew the results would come.
The results started to come for Lehigh in 1994. During the 1994 Patriot League championships, Lehigh finished in second place by less than nine points to Army (695.5 to 687 points).
“We came so close to winning the whole thing,” said Marshall. “That was a sign we could actually do this and break through.”
Beating the academies was a significant hurdle to breaking through, but that day would come for Marshall’s program…
Lehigh continued to enjoy success in the ensuing years. Then in 1998, Lehigh won its first-ever Patriot League swimming and diving title, either gender, as the women took home the crown with ease.
“The women winning in 1998 wasn’t a surprise,” said Marshall. “We were definitely a contender, but the surprise was how much we dominated.”
The women finished the league championships with 642.5 points, ahead of Army in second with 608.
The following year in 1999, it was the Lehigh men’s turn.
“Joe Sterrett came down to watch the Saturday night session at the Patriot League championship meet,” said Marshall. “To win one event at night is a big deal. We won five of the six events that night. We were untouchable. At that point, the snowball was rolling and we were gaining momentum.”
There was an intermission before the final event, the 400 freestyle relay. That’s when Marshall realized no matter what happened moving forward, Lehigh had secured the championship.
“I went to tell Joe so he was aware, and he was on his way down to ask the same question,” said Marshall. “We ended up meeting in the stairway.
“At that point in 1999, I had been his coach for 10 years and we had been second a number of times on the men’s side,” Marshall continued. “When I told him we had won, his eyes popped out of his head. I said we did it. You could see the pride that we finally beat one of the academies and it validated everything.
“Everything came together in that moment. Joe shook my hand, gave me a pat on the back and was about to walk away when I said ‘thanks for taking a chance on me 10 years ago as a 23-year old who knew nothing. I knew I was going to prove it one of these days.’”
That moment was the tangible reward of developing the Lehigh swimming and diving family. In reality, everyone involved in the program was already reaping the benefits. Championships were just affirmation.
“I knew the swimmers and they were as close-knit a group as I had seen,” said Erickson. “I would sit at the pool for hours watching all those men and women swim and you could just see the love they had for their coach. You could see also the love he had for them. He pushed them and challenged them, but thought of them as family. They knew that.”
“When Chris brought people into the program, they knew they were part of something not like anything else,” said Herb. “Chris was about making sure it was a cohesive unit, a good group of people who enjoyed being around each other, which is still the foundation of our program today.
“It really stems from him.”
Marshall truly left a lasting legacy. In the pool, the Lehigh men’s or women’s team won a Patriot League crown from 1998 through 2002. By 2002, Marshall had moved onto a position in the Lehigh Alumni Relations Office, but his presence continued to be felt within Lehigh swimming and diving over the ensuing years, and today.
“Chris still comes around and continues to show support for the Lehigh swimming and diving family, and the athletes feel that,” said Herb. “They know who Chris Marshall is. He takes an interest and still comes and talks to the athletes themselves. He’s shown incredible loyalty.
“If we’re going to put somebody in the Hall of Fame, we couldn’t ask for a better person than Chris Marshall. His love for Lehigh is true and not blue, but brown.”
“Chris may be getting into the Hall of Famer for being a very good swimmer, outstanding coach and phenomenal recruiter, but boy he is a Hall of Fame person,” said Erickson.
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