Head coach Stu Marvin, the stalwart of Bloomsburg University Swimming and 6-time PSAC coach of the year, has announced his retirement after 15 seasons with the Huskies. Bridget Hilferty ‘13, who was Marvin’s assistant coach for the past decade and swam under him during her time at Bloomsburg, has been announced as the new head coach for the Huskies. She will begin her tenure on June 2nd, 2023.
The Huskies will look to improve upon the men’s 4th place and women’s 3rd place finish at the 2023 PSAC championship. During Hilferty’s time with the program, she has served as the primary distance coach seeing the record books rewritten in the distance events by both the men and the women. Hilferty has brought on fellow Bloomsburg alum, Eric Usbeck ‘17, who had previously coached at Millersville University.
Marvin began his tenure with the Huskies in 2008, returning three decades after his graduation in 1978 to helm the program. During his time away from Bloomsburg, Marvin worked as the director of the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex at the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He concurrently coached the Fort Lauderdale Swim Team, and eventually Fort Lauderdale Aquatics.
Prior to his hire, the Huskies had never won a men’s PSAC team title, and the women hadn’t placed higher than 3rd since 1992.
By the end of his tenure, Marvin finished with five men’s and one women’s coach of the year awards, a coaching record of 140-83 (0.628) across both teams, and has coached 19 All-Americans accumulating 67 All-American accolades. He also finishes with the second (0.613) and third (.641) highest winning percentages as the coach for the men and women’s teams respectively.
The men have reset every school record, and the women have reset all but one during Marvin’s tenure, where the men achieved not only their first undefeated season (2016-17), but also their first PSAC team championship (2021). In the same time frame, the women achieved four consecutive runner-up finishes at the PSAC team championships (2015-18), for the first time since 1992.
During his years as an athlete at Bloomsburg, Marvin was an 11-time All-American, five-time PSAC champion, and held six conference records. He was also the first swimmer inducted into the Bloomsburg University Athletic Hall of Fame (1990). He has also been inducted into the Pennsylvania Aquatic, Upper Dublin High School Athletic, Broward County (Florida), and Florida Gold Coast Masters Halls of Fame. Marvin also received the Joseph G. Rodgers Outstanding Service Award for his work on the YMCA National Swimming & Diving Committee.
He is also an accomplished master’s swimmer, winning two FINA Masters World Champ, 28 U.S. Masters national titles, and 13 YMCA Masters