Swimming/Diving Coaches

 Mark Benishek

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Mark Benishek enters his second season as the head coach of the varsity swimming program at Saint Mary's in the 2011-12 school year.

A native of Wisconsin, Benishek has been a high school boys’ swimming coach at Cedarburg (Wis.) High School, an age group coach at the Ozaukee Swim Club (Cedarburg, Wis.), and a coach at the La Crosse YMCA over the past eight years.  As a college student, he was an intern for the recreation site director for the Milwaukee Public Schools Recreation Department from 2005-2006. 

While completing his master’s degree, Benishek served as the Aquatics Director at the La Crosse Area Family YMCA from 2006-2008.  In that role, he managed comprehensive aquatic programs for people of all ages and abilities and implemented several special events such as an indoor Ironman challenge all while also serving as a coach at the facility.

Benishek is a member of the U.S. Triathlon, Swimming, and Masters Swimming Associations as well as the National Intramurals Sports and Recreation Association among other professional affiliations.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in community education and education policy from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in 2006.  Benishek then went on to earn a Master of Science in recreation management from the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. 

Since that time, he has served as the Assistant Director of RecSports at the University of Notre Dame where he is in charge of Aquatics.  He oversees the day-to-day operations of both the Rolfs Aquatic Center and the Rockne Memorial Pool at Notre Dame.  Benishek is also a personal swim instructor at the university.  He continues to serve those roles while also leading the swimming program at Saint Mary’s.

Assistant Coaches