George Kennedy has been leading the Johns Hopkins men’s and women’s swimming programs for 29 years and this week was named one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune 500 Magazine. He is number 36 on the list, which also includes Pope Francis, Michael Bloomburg, Bill Clinton, Gabrielle Giffords and coaches Mike Krzyzewski, Gregg Popovich and Dawn Staley.
“Kennedy is in his 29th coaching season at Johns Hopkins, but veterans of his swim teams say you'd never know it. Kennedy sees not just each season, but each meet as a new chance to change things up. Maybe that's how his teams have won 24 conference titles and had 16 top-five NCAA finishes. "My four favorite words," he says, are 'We can do better.' "
During his tenure, Kennedy’s teams have won 249 dual meets, 24 conference titles, 16 individual NCAA titles, six NCAA relay titles and count 16 top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships. His swimmers have also combined for nearly 1,400 All-America honors, 13 CoSIDA Academic All-America honors and seven NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships. In April 2013, Kennedy was inducted into the Johns Hopkins Athletic Hall of Fame. Five of his former swimmers have also been inducted into the JHU Athletic Hall of Fame.
Kennedy, a six-time NCAA Coach of the Year, and the Blue Jays are in the midst of the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championship in Indianapolis, IN. The Hopkins men are currently in fourth place heading into the third day of the championship. The Hopkins women have won two individual titles and three relay titles and are in second place after two days at the championship.
For more on the list, visit: http://money.cnn.com/gallery/leadership/2014/03/20/worlds-best-leaders.fortune/36.html
Kennedy by the Numbers
1 • Rhodes Scholar
3 • NCAA Runner-up Finishes (Team)
5 • Johns Hopkins Athletic Hall of Fame members
6 • NCAA Relay Champions
7 • NCAA Postgrad Scholars
13 • CoSIDA Academic All-Americans
16 • NCAA Top-Five Finishes (Team)
16 • NCAA Individual Champions
24 • Conference Titles (Team)
42 • NCAA Top-10 Finishes (team)
110 • Conference Relay Champions
204 • Conference Individual Champions
249 • Dual meet wins
1370 • All-Americans
