Jacqueline Michalski enters her fifth season as the Gannon head coach for both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams in 2023-24.
Last season possibly her best season with the Golden Knights as she led both teams to high finishes in the PSAC Championships.
The Gannon men placed second in the PSAC Championships in 2023, the Golden Knights' best finish during Michalski's tenure. Under her coaching, the Gannon men set 11 school records in 2022-23, including several individual marks and four relay standards.
Prior to that, Michalski guided the men's team to back-to-back-to-back third-place team finishes at the PSAC Championships (2020, 2021, and 2022).
In addition, she coached Brent Benedict to the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in 2020. Benedict was also named the PSAC Swimmer of the Year during that season.
Michalski has coached the women's team to a series of school records and quality team finishes at the annual PSAC Championships. The Gannon women placed fourth at the 2023 PSAC Championships, matching the fourth-place finish for her team in 2021. The GU women placed fifth in 2022 and sixth in 2020.
Both the men's and women's teams are primed for more success in 2023-24.
She also coached swimmer Silvija Taraska, who qualified for the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in both 2020 and 2021, as well as 2020-2021 PSAC Freshman of the Year Francesca Nemetz.
In combination between the men's and women's teams, eight total Golden Knight student-athletes have earned PSAC Swimming Athlete of the Week awards during Michalski's time as head coach at Gannon.
She brought nine years of collegiate coaching experience with her to Erie prior to the 2019-20 season after spending five years as the head coach at Division I Eastern Illinois.
Michalski guided the Panthers to success in the pool during her time in Charleston, Illinois. She coached six All-Summit League swimmers, and the team set 19 program records and nine pool records over those five seasons. When delving deeper into those results, she helped the teams set a total of 121 marks inside EIU’s top-ten times for specific events.
The Panthers also were successful out of the pool, as five swimmers earned Summit League All-Academic awards. Both teams were also recognized for their academic prowess by the Summit League, College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association, or NCAA.
Prior to Eastern Illinois, Michalski coached at St. Francis (Pa.) for two seasons from 2012-14. Focusing on sprinters, and also handing recruiting coordinator and operations duties, she helped the Red Flash to the 2013 Northeast Conference championship.
In two seasons in Loretto, Pennsylvania, she guided the team to 16 school records, four conference records, as well as Division I’s third-highest team GPA in 2012-13.
Michalski got her collegiate coaching start at Division III King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where the Monarchs set 21 new school records, and helped train an individual conference champion.
A four-year member of the swimming and diving team at SUNY Oswego, Michalski was a two-time SUNYAC All-Academic selection, and helped the Lakers to the 2007 conference championship. She also earned an all-conference honor during her time at Oswego.
Michalski has extensive experience teaching swimming, beginning as the head coach for the Central Open women’s team that competed at the Empire State Games in 2008. She has also worked at college camps throughout her career, including at the United State Naval Academy, United States Military Academy, Georgia, Virginia, Cornell and Kutztown. Her experience extends internationally as well, assisting in coaching the 2013 Swedish National Meet and at the Dynamo Elite camp of South Africa in 2016.
A native of Chenango Forks, New York, Michalski earned her bachelor’s degree in wellness management from Oswego in 2010. She added her master’s degree in health care administration from King’s in 2012.
