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Eric Stefanski enters his first season as an assistant coach with the University of Pittsburgh. He joins the staff from the University of Rochester, where he coached the Yellowjackets' men's and women's teams in 2003-04 and earned the University Athletic Association's Women's Coach of the Year award.
A former standout swimmer with the Panthers in the late 1990s, Stefanski will assist in the operations of home meets and help with the on-deck training of both the men's and women's sprinters.
"This is an opportunity of a lifetime -- to return to coach as an alumnus of a swimming program of this stature," Stefanski said. "I will lend my talents to the team in aggressively promoting the high standards of excellence that Pitt swimming and diving has enjoyed over the years."
He led the Yellowjackets' women's team to a third-place finish last season, an improvement of four places in the standings and had the first U of R NCAA qualifiier in seven seasons.
Prior to his appointment as head coach of the Yellowjackets, Stefanski was an assistant coach for both teams during the 2002-03 season. He earned his Master's of Science degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in sport psychology from Georgia Southern in 2002, where he also served as a teaching assistant and a swimming coach for the Statesboro Bulloch County Sharks. Stefanski was a swimming coach at nearby Seneca Valley High School from 1998-2000.
His swimming career had many highlights, including the 1992 and 1993 U.S. Opens, the1994 U.S. Olympic Festival, the 1997 Fina World Cup and the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials. Stefanski came to Pittsburgh as one of the most highly recruited athletes the men's program had to date and won a Big East title in the 100 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay as a senior in 1998. He also qualified for the 1997 NCAA Division I National Championships.
"Eric was one of Division III's up-and-coming success stories," Head Coach Chuck Knoles said. "He was able to have a tremendous impact on the University of Rochester swimming program in the two years he was there."
The Pittsburgh school-record holder in the 200 freestyle, Stefanski swam the event in 1:37.18 in 1997 and is a part of the school-record 200 medley relay team that finished in 1:29.38 at the 1998 Big East Championships.
Stefanski is a 1998 graduate of Pittsburgh with a bachelor's degree in psychology.
