Former Lehigh University swimming standout Michael Hay has been named the head men's and women's swimming coach at Albright announced Co-Director of Athletics Janice Luck. Hay brings over four years of experience at the collegiate, high school and club levels to Albright. Hay is also of Pennsylvania coaching pedigree. His father was a longtime coach and mother Catherine Hay has led Villa Saint Maria to the past three PIAA Division II championships.
"I am pleased to announce the addition of Michael Hay as our new men's and women's swimming coach," said Luck. "His passion for the sport along with his recruiting ties in the area will help to elevate our already successful program."
The men's program at Albright has won four consecutive Middle Atlantic Conference championships and eight titles overall, while the women's team has won 10 titles with the most recent coming in 2013.
"Albright is a great fit for me because of the past experiences I have had both as a student-athlete and an assistant coach," said Hay. "I feel confident that I have relationships with the local club team coaches that will allow me to recruit student-athletes that will take the program to the next level.
"There is no question that John Stuhltrager took the program to significant heights and I have big shoes to fill. That being said, we need to move forward as a team and establish what my vision for the program is and we will be able to do that by really getting behind recruiting and putting our kids in position to be successful."
Most recently Hay was an assistant coach at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., where he was involved in all facets of a highly competitive Division III program. During his two-year stint at Carthage the Red Men and Lady Reds had an NCAA All-American, had five NCAA qualifiers and won a combined 11 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin individual titles.
"Michael added quite a bit to our program at Carthage" said Arizona State Associate Head Coach Greg Earhart. "The fact that he came back to swimming out of the corporate world shows that he's doing this for the right reasons.
"I don't disagree with that," answered Hay.
Prior to Carthage, Hay was an assistant coach at Villa Maria Academy in Malvern, Pa., and also an assistant coach for the Upper Main Line YMCA swim program. Villa Maria Academy won Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) state titles in both 2011 and 2012 and the Upper Main Line men's team placed fourth at the YMCA Spring Nationals in 2012 while the women finished eighth.
"I want to recruit quality kids first and foremost, but I want blue collar kids," Hay added. "I want kids who bring their lunch pail to work every day and are ready to work hard and put team success ahead of their own."
Hay attended Lehigh from 2004-08 and earned four letters in swimming. He was a member of the Mountain Hawks 200 free relay, which earned top five finishes at the Patriot League Championships in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Additionally, he was a member of the 400 medley relay team that placed fifth in 2008, the 400 freestyle relay team that was fourth in both 2007 and 2008, and the 200 medley team that placed third in 2007 and fifth in 2008. Individually, Hay was a consolation finalist in the 50 freestyle in 2005, 2006 and 2007, in the 100 freestyle in 2007 and the 100 breaststroke in 2007 and 2008.
Hay earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Lehigh in accounting with a minor in engineering in the spring of 2008 and his Master of Education degree in educational leadership from Carthage in 2014.
