Swimming
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- macdonaldb1@xavier.edu
- Phone:
- 513.745.3010
In 2019, MacDonald led the Xavier me to the the program's fourth BIG EAST championship in six years, coming from behind to pass Georgetown on the final day of the competition despite not competing in diving.Â
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Xavier's men collected six BIG EAST event championships over the course of the four-day meet, including four of the five relays, to finish with 779.5 points, topping second place Georgetown by 35 points.Â
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During the Musketeers' inaugural BIG EAST season in 2013-14, MacDonald led the Xavier men's team to a first place finish at the BIG EAST Championship, marking the first conference title in program history, as well as the first BIG EAST title for Xavier Athletics. The women's team also performed well at the BIG EAST Championship, earning a third place finish. MacDonald was named the 2014 BIG EAST Men's Swimming Coach of the Year.
MacDonald would go on to lead the Musketeers to three-straight BIG EAST Championships, winning in 2015 and 2016.Â
Xavier took the conference title in 2015 with 904 total points, more than 150 more than second-place Georgetown. The Musketeer men used a balanced effort, led by the men's BIG EAST Most Outstanding Swimmer Nick Foster who scored 56 individual points for the Xavier men and won two individual gold medals.
The 2016 squad also posted a dominating win in the conference meet, collecting the top spot in 12 racing events. During the 2016 conference meet, Luke Johanns and Knox Hitt both set NCAA B-Cut times, only the second and third men in program history to do so.
On the women's side, MacDonald has built a Xavier program that has steadily moved up the ranks of the BIG EAST, finishing in second place in 2019, the best finish since joining the BIG EAST which matches the program's best conference finish, also accomplished in 2008 when the Musketeers were Atlantic 10 runners up.
Xavier's women finished the 2019 meet with one event championship, the 200 medley relay, marking the first relay championship for the women's program. The Musketeers finished with 662 points, a program best since joining the BIG EAST, for the second-place finish to champions Villanova.
Prior to joining the BIG EAST, the Musketeers moved up the ranks in the A10 under MacDonald's guidance. In both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, the men's team matched their best finish ever in the A-10 Swimming and Diving Championships with consecutive third-place showings. Following the men's performance in 2011-12, MacDonald was tabbed the A-10 Men's Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year.
During his tenure with the team, MacDonald coached one of the most decorated swimmers in Xavier history in Michael Zennedjian. A 2012 graduate, Zennedjian was named the 2009 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and twice earned the A-10 Most Outstanding Performer (2011, 2012). He finished his career at Xavier with 11 individual and five relay A-10 Championship medals.
MacDonald, a four-year swimmer and record-holder at Valparaiso University, came to XU with extensive coaching experience at the high school and club level. In addition to his duties at Xavier, MacDonald also currently serves as the head satellite coach of the Cincinnati Marlins club team, which he joined in October of 2006.
Prior to working with the Cincinnati Marlins, he served as the assistant swimming coach at Noblesville (Ind.) High School. MacDonald has made a couple of other coaching stops in his career including a stint as the girls' swimming team head coach at Marshfield (Wis.) High School. He also spent two years as the aquatics director at the Marshfield YMCA before taking the Noblesville position.
MacDonald graduated in 2003 from Valparaiso with a degree in sports administration. MacDonald and his wife, Krista, have three children, Carys, Teague and Everly.
