Rob Miecznikowski was named the first head men's and women's swimming and diving coach at St. Ambrose University on Sept. 23, 2016.
The 2015 State of Iowa High School Coach of the Year, Miecznikowski served as the head girls swimming coach at Iowa City West High School from 1999-2015 and had been the head boys coach there since 2001.
He won three District/Regional Coach of the Year awards (2012, 2014, 2016) and was a nine-time Mississippi Valley Conference (MVC) Coach of the Year.
"It is an extreme honor to be taking the head men's and women's swimming and diving position at St. Ambrose University. St. Ambrose has provided an oustanding opportunity to the swimming and diving community and especially for those student-athletes who wish to compete at the collegiate level," Miecznikowski said.
Over the last 26 years, Miecznikowski has coached in the state of Iowa at every level.
After finishing his career as an athlete, swimming and playing water polo at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, he got his coaching start as a graduate assistant with the University of Iowa men's team, where he helped with recruiting and on-deck coaching responsibilities.
At Iowa City West, Miecznikowski won two boys state high school championships and his teams currently hold seven Iowa high school records. In 2015-16, he had seven All-American swims, with four of those placing in the top-10 nationally.
Miecznikowski also launched two club teams. Washington Sharks Swim Club, and Hawkeye Aquatics. He was the head swimming coach for the Waterloo (Iowa) Sharks Swim Club from 1993-1999 and coached with the Iowa Flyers (IFLY) Swim Club in Iowa City from 2009-2014.
Miecznikowski earned his degree in Psychology from UNC-Wilmington.
