Bowling Green State University

Michael Retcher is in his 2nd season with the Bowling Green Swim and Dive program. Prior to BGSU, he spent 13 seasons as the Head Diving Coach at Napoleon High School and the Napoleon Diving Club. In his time at NHS, 43 student-athletes qualified for the OHSAA State Diving Championships, with 17 placing in the top 10. His most successful season was the most recent one, as the Wildcats saw divers place 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st, and 24th at the 2021-22 state meet. In the last eight seasons, Retcher has guided eight divers to NCAA Division I programs. In the last five years, the Napoleon Diving Club has sent 27 divers to AAU Nationals, with 12 finishing in the top 12. Retcher also served as the Ohio Diving League President and Napoleon High School Assistant Athletic Director. He has experience as an AAU National Event Coordinator, running three national qualifying events and overseeing yearly national meets. Retcher was the Head Coach of the BGSU Club Water Polo team in 2021-22 and has been an assistant coach for the Napoleon Water Polo team since 2009. He was selected by USA Diving to be the meet director for the 2022 USA Senior Winter Nationals Meet in December and was recently named Vice President of Membership of the Professional Diving Coaches Association. Retcher is a 2009 graduate of Napoleon High School and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Western Governors University. He is certified as a USA Diving Competition Coach, AAU Diving Youth Coach, and lifeguard instructor. He has spent the previous eight summers as the Assistant Waterfront Director and Kitchen Manager for Camp Walden, located in Cheboygan, Michigan.

Marcy Spann joined the BGSU women's swimming & diving staff in August 2023. She is currently pursuing her master's degree in BG's College Student Personnel program. The 2023-2024 campaign brought moderate improvements for the BGSU women's swimming & diving team including a 28 team point increase at the MAC Championships and 116 lifetime bests throughout the season dropping 173.68 seconds. Spann began her coaching career in the summer of 2021 where she served as the head coach of Fairlawn Country Club's summer swim team and led them to a second-place finish in the league. A native of North Royalton, OH, Spann swam collegiately at the University of Mount Union. She was a four-time top 8 OAC conference performer and specialized in the distance freestyle events and the 400 IM. Spann earned a bachelor's degree in Sport Business in May of 2020 and was a three-time Dean's List recipient during her undergraduate career. She has had previous sport internships at Hermes Sports & Events, the Lake Erie Crushers and Mount Union's SID department. Spann swam for four years at Cuyahoga Falls HS where she was a four-time district qualifier. She contributed to the CFHS women's program 5th place (2015 & 2016) finish at OHSAA Akron North sectional meet.

Tanner Barton was named the 11th women's swimming and diving coach at Bowling Green on April 3, 2024. Barton comes to BGSU after spending four seasons as the head coach for men's and women's swimming and diving at John Carroll University, which is a nationally ranked DIII intercollegiate program in nearby Cleveland, Ohio. In just four years at John Carroll, Barton led JCU to eight total Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) championships which includes four on the men's side and four on the women's side. His time at John Carroll has boasted 21 CSCAA (College Swimming Coaches Association of America) first-team All-Americans and 11 CSCAA first-team Scholar All-Americans. His teams set 27 OAC records and notched 104 conference championship titles (68 individual, 36 relay titles). "Tanner Barton is high-energy, high-impact, and a transformative leader," said van der Merwe. "He has been thrust into leadership roles from his time as a student-athlete in the Mid-American Conference to coaching positions over the years. In each role, he has significantly and positively impacted the trajectory of the programs and distinguished himself as a change agent. I am excited to partner with him in building a swim and dive program that has consistent success and evolving BGSU's commitment to swim and dive in the region. His contagious energy and passion will make BGSU Athletics better every day." "Upon coming to campus, I quickly learned how BGSU is at the heart of this city," said Barton. "As a relational leader, I am eager to become a member of the community and build meaningful partnerships. I want to thank President Rogers, Derek van der Merwe, Stacy Kosciak and Chet Hesson for entrusting me to lead the women's swimming and diving team. With steadfast commitment to bettering ourselves in and out of the pool, I am confident the current and all future Falcons will proudly represent BGSU. I am extremely excited to begin, and the future is bright!" The four years Barton was at John Carroll were electric, including setting 41 school records. He coached multiple national championship qualifiers each year and the 2023 men's team finished Top-15 as Barton coached the national runner-up in the men's 100-yard backstroke. The 2022 season saw JCU's men's team finish 13th, which is the best since 1989. During his time at JCU he produced 202 All-OAC honorees and set a conference record for most points scored at the championship meet for both the men (2022) and women (2023). His staff earned conference coaching staff of the year honors in each of his four seasons. Barton previously spent one season at Anderson University in Indiana as the head men's and women's swimming and diving coach. In his role at Anderson, Barton championed the formation of the diving program. During his only campaign, he led Anderson student-athletes to 57 record-breaking performances including 30 new program records. Barton's teams were named CSCAA Scholar All-America teams in both the fall of 2019 and spring of 2020. He also coached the program's first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) champion and Scholar All-American. Prior to holding the head job at Anderson, Barton spent 2018-19 a at Cleveland State. During that time Barton was the lead coach for the 2019 Horizon League Women's Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Year, Molly McNamara. McNamara was also named the Female Scholar-Athlete of the 2018-19 Winter Season by the Horizon League. Barton enjoyed a successful collegiate career at Ball State, where he was selected as a team captain for his junior and senior years and ranked second all time in the 200-butterfly with a time of 1:50.09. During his senior year, Barton earned the Bob James Memorial Award, which is awarded to the Mid-American Conference (MAC) student-athlete of the year. He was a four-year finalist at the MAC Swimming & Diving Championships. Barton was also a representative of the MAC Council of Student Athletes and Ball State's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). Barton began coaching collegiately at his alma mater, Ball State. While serving as the program's graduate assistant from 2017-18, Barton coached the 200-yard backstroke record holder. A native of Dublin, Ohio, Barton graduated from Ball State's Honor College in 2017 with summa cum laude honors and a bachelor of arts degree. He was a double major in health science and Spanish. In May of 2019 he earned a master of science degree in exercise science with an emphasis in sport performance.