MacDonald named UVa diving coach

Virginia head swimming coach Mark Bernardino announced Tuesday that Rich MacDonald has been named diving coach at UVa. MacDonald joins the Cavalier program after serving in a similar capacity at East Carolina for nine seasons.

“Rich made himself into a very good college diver through his hard work, perseverance, dedication and tenacity,” Bernardino said. “He has used those same characteristics to become a great college coach. It is my hope that he can utilize those traits with the divers here at UVa and take them to the next level.”

MacDonald, the first full-time diving coach at East Carolina, has guided at least one ECU diver to the NCAA zone regional in eight of his nine years, including the first finalists on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards in school history. MacDonald guided multiple Conference USA freshman divers of the year and multiple conference finalists.

Prior to his stint with the Pirates, MacDonald coached at his alma mater, Rhode Island, from 1997-2000. He mentored two Atlantic-10 conference champions and three NCAA zone qualifiers at URI.