Bentley Falcons

Women's Swimming

Mary Kay Samko

Head Men’s & Women’s Swim Coach

Aquatics Director

 

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Mary Kay Samko          Mary Kay Samko, now in her 14th year as the Aquatics Director and Head Men’s and Women’s Swim Coach at Bentley University, has developed the Bentley swim program into one of the most competitive in both the Northeast-10 Conference and the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association.

          All of the school records have been bettered numerous times since she inherited a two-year-old program in 1996. Samko led Bentley to six straight NEISDA women’s championships from 2002-07 and the men’s team has captured the NEISDA title six times in the last nine years (2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008).

          During Samko’s first 13 years at Bentley, she’s led the women’s team to a 141-51 record, including a remarkable 107-14 from 1999-2008, and the men’s team to a 100-50 record. The Falcons have finished in the top four of each of the first five Northeast-10 Conference championships in addition to dominating in the NEISDA meet.
          Samko has received the Charles Silvia Award as the NEISDA Men’s Swim Coach of the Year three times (2001, 2003, 2006) and has been the NEISDA Women’s Swim Coach of the Year twice (2002, 2003).

          Samko arrived at Bentley with 20 years of coaching experience, including 14 as a head coach at three different schools, including the University of The South in Sewanee, Tenn. from 1991-94 where she also served as pool director.

          Samko was also the women’s swim coach at Southern Connecticut State from 1982-87 and at Tufts from 1976-82. Her tenure at Southern saw her take on a team on the verge of extinction to one that was undefeated in her final year and produced a pair of NCAA Division II qualifiers.

          Her six years at Tufts were highlighted by eight Division III All-Americas, numerous New England championships and a sixth-place finish in the 1982 NCAA Division III Championships.

          Samko, a Short Hills, N.J. native, is a 1976 graduate of Boston College where she was a two-time swim MVP. She became the first woman inducted into the BC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982, and was the 1987 New England Coach of the Year.

          Samko, who serves on the NCAA Men's and Women's Swimming Committee, now resides in Arlington with her husband, Bill, who is the head football coach at Tufts University. They have four children: Tracy (26), a student at UMass Medical School; Kristin (23), a 2008 Tufts graduate; Peter (21), a junior at Tufts; and Michael (14), an eighth-grader. 

 

The Samko Record

Year

School

Men

Women

76-77

Tufts

5-6

77-78

Tufts

5-5

78-79

Tufts

8-2

79-80

Tufts

5-3

80-81

Tufts

9-1

81-82

Tufts

9-1

82-83

So. Connecticut

2-8

83-84

So. Connecticut

2-7

84-85

So. Connecticut

5-4

85-86

So. Connecticut

5-3

86-87

So. Connecticut

10-0-1

91-92

Univ. of the South

4-6

5-4

92-93

Univ. of the South

4-3

7-1

93-94

Univ. of the South

4-3

5-3

96-97

Bentley

6-10

2-15

97-98

Bentley

10-4

15-5

98-99

Bentley

6-8

10-11

99-00

Bentley

8-3

15-1

00-01

Bentley

9-1

16-0

01-02

Bentley

6-3

12-0

02-03

Bentley

6-3

11-1

03-04

Bentley

6-4

11-2

04-05

Bentley

8-2

11-2

05-06

Bentley

7-3

11-2

06-07

Bentley

9-2

10-3

07-08

Bentley

10-3

10-3

08-09

Bentley

8-4

8-6

Totals

27 years

111-62

224-99

Bentley

13 years

100-50

142-51

 

 

Rick Danehy

Diving Coach

 

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Rick Danehy          In his 16th season as Bentley’s diving coach, and his third full-time at Bentley is Rick Danehy.  A native of Billerica, Danehy has also coached diving at Weston High School and Billerica High School and was the head coach of Mass Pike Diving.

          During his tenure as a diving coach, Danehy has coached several high school All-Americas and a national Junior Olympic qualifier. In addition, he has worked with many Massachusetts state champions and several New Hampshire state champions. At Bentley, he has coached four different men to New England championships, including two-time All-America Matt Cupps and honorable mention All-America Jon Andrews.

          Danehy was recognized by the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association as the 2005, 2006 and 2008 recipient of the Charles Batterman Men’s Diving Coach of the Year, and was the organization's 2007 Women's Diving Coach of the Year. He has been named the Northeast-10 Men's Diving Coach of the Year each of the last two years.

         Danehy now resides in Ashland with his wife, Dr. Amy Danehy, and their daughter, Kelli (2).