Year of Service: 24th
Hometown: Indiana, PA
Education: BS, Education;
MS, Sports Science ’91
The 2012-2013 season will mark the 24th year that Brian Bishop has coached the Lion men’s swimming program. In addition to coaching at TCNJ, Bishop also serves as the Associate Director of Athletics.
TCNJ is coming off another strong season in which they posted a 9-1 dual meet record, won its fourth straight New Jersey Athletic Conference title and sixth straight Metropolitan Conference championship.
Bishop has successfully guided swimmers to the NCAA Championships in each of the last 22 seasons producing two NCAA Division III National Champions, (Matt Stoll in 1994 and Steve Swenson in 2006) and a total of 55 student-athletes earn 171 All-America awards. TCNJ’s men’s swimmer have placed in the top 20 18 times at the NCAA’s, including 13 times in the top 15. In 2010, the team earned its highest finish at the NCAA’s by finishing in sixth place, and followed that up with a 12th-place finish last season.
The Lions have had equal success in the classroom as well, earning 46 CSCAA All-Academic Team Honors, 15 individual CSCAA All-Academic Honors and one CoSIDA Academic All-American (Andrew Girman in 2000).
TCNJ’s men have also dominated the METRO Conference Championships by winning 15 of the last 20 titles including nine in a row from 1994-2002 and six in a row from 2006-07 through 2011-12. They earned their 15th title and repeated as Met Champions for the fifth consecutive year in 2012 after finishing second from 2003 to 2006.
The Lions have also had tremendous success in dual meets posting a 193-43 record, including three undefeated seasons (1993-1994, 1994-1995, and 1996-1997).
Bishop has produced one Olympic Swimmer (Davy Bisslik in 2004), who competed in the 100 fly in Athens, Greece. In addition, Bishop served as the coach for Aruba in a 2004 World Cup meet in Stockholm, Sweden and has served as an advisor to the Aruba Olympic Committee. Bishop also served as the president of the METRO Swimming Conference for six years.
Coach Bishop has been honored with several coaching and service awards, including the 1994 and 2010 Roy Van Ness Award. This award is given annually to a TCNJ Coach for outstanding success and leadership as voted by TCNJ’s Athletic Department. He was also named the NJAC Coach of the Year in 1990, 1994, 2009, 2010 and this past year in 2012 as well as the METRO Coach of the year in 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. In 1989 he received a service award from AAHPERD, and in 2001 he received a service award from the NJSIAA.
In addition to a BS in Education, Bishop earned an MS in Sport Science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Susan, currently reside in Langhorne, PA with their sons, Connor (18) and Bryce (14).
Bishop’s Year-by-Year Record
Year Overall Pct. Postseason
1989–90 4-5 .444
1990–91 9-3 .750 4th at METs
1991–92 10-3 .769 4th at METs
1992–93 10-1 .909 26th at NCAAs, 3rd at METs
1993–94 10-0 1.000 11th at NCAAs, MET Champions
1994–95 9-0 1.000 22nd at NCAAs, MET Champions
1995–96 7-2 .778 16th at NCAAs, MET Champions
1996–97 10-0 1.000 16th at NCAAs, MET Champions
1997–98 10-1 .909 11th at NCAAs, MET Champions
1998–99 10-1 .909 17th at NCAAs, MET Champions
1999–2000 9-1 .900 15th at NCAAs, MET Champions
2000–01 10-1 .909 15th at NCAAs,MET Champions
2001–02 7-2 .778 18th at NCAAs, MET Champions
2002–03 9-4 .692 8th at NCAAs, MET Runners-up
2003-04 7-3 .700 14th at NCAAs, MET Runners-up
2004-05 7-3 .700 14th at NCAAs, MET Runners-Up
2005-06 7-2 .778 12th at NCAAs, MET Runners-Up
2006-07 6-3 .667 16th at NCAAs, MET Champions
2007-08 7-3 .700 7th at NCAAs, MET Champions
2008-09 10-1 .909 10th at NCAAs, MET Champions
2009-10 9-1 .900 6th at NCAAs, MET Champions
2010-11 8-2 .800 12th at NCAAs, MET Champions
2011-12 9-1 .900 12th at NCAAs, MET Champions
Totals 194-43 .818 15 MET Titles
