In the midst of his 29th season at West Chester University, Jamie Rudisill oversees a swimming and diving program that continually ranks among the best in the nation at the Division II level. Both the Golden Rams’ men’s and women’s programs annually send a large contingent of swimmers to nationals and finish ranked in the Top 20 as an institution.
For almost three decades, Rudisill has coached countless All-Americans and national champions while running one of the most successful youth swim lessons programs in the Northeast. West Chester University’s men’s swimming program won its 18th consecutive PSAC title in 2015-16 while the women’s team won its 10th straight.
At last spring's NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, Rudisill witnessed his star pupil, Victor Polyakov, capture his fifth individual national championship in five different events when he won the 200 individual medley. Polyakov also finished runner up in two other events at the national meet.
Polyakov won four individual national championships in the distance events on the men's side at the 2014 championship meet, while female swimmer, Kitty Fischer, captured a pair of national championships as well. The Golden Rams' men finished sixth at nationals while the women finished fourth.
Former 22-time All-American, Jackie Borkowski, won three individual national championships at the 2010 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships while the men’s team placed ninth overall. Borkowski qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials for the London Games in the summer of 2012.
In 2009, West Chester’s women’s squad placed fifth, improving two spots from its 2008 placement, and Borkowski was runner up at nationals in the 100-yard freestyle. The star swimmer was also named PSAC Swimmer of the Meet at the conference championships, breaking four conference records and earning seven conference titles.
The men’s swimming team placed 10th at nationals in 2009 with four All-America certificates in tow. The men’s team also picked up its 11th straight PSAC crown, continuing its domination against conference foes.
In 2008, the Golden Rams’ men tied its best finish ever at the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships with a third-place showing and 14 All-America certificates in tow. Meanwhile the women’s team placed seventh overall at the championships and captured eight All-America citations in the process.
West Chester’s Ben Kuntz won a national championship with a first-place ribbon in the 200-yard butterfly and the 800 free relay team also took top honors for the school’s only other individual national title.
The men’s team has ranked in the Top 5 at the NCAAs seven times over the past 11 years with their highest ranking of third coming in 2000 and again in 2008. Not to be outdone, the women have finished the year ranked in the Top 5 six of the past 10 years as well with two third-place finishes in 2002 and 2003.
Over his 29 years on deck of West Chester University’s Graham Natatorium, Rudisill has tutored five female national champions, who have accumulated 18 NCAA titles, and three male national champions, along with three relay championships.
Four of Rudisill’s lady swimmers have broken national records, including junior Kathrin Dumitru, who set the top mark in the 100 butterfly at the 2006 NCAA Championships breaking a record once held by WCU’s Corey Dennis. Dumitru walked away with four national championships at that event, along with former teammate Tammy Leane, who holds the NCAA record in the 400 individual medley. Between the two swimmers, West Chester accounted for eight NCAA titles in 2006. At the 2014 national meet, Fischer joined that elite group by breaking the DII record in the 200 IM, which she had previously set at the PSAC Championships one month earlier. She is currently the only Division II female swimmer to break the 2-minute mark in that event
Andras Schonek was the Rams’ lone male national champion until Ben Kuntz brought home a title at nationals in 2008. Schonek won his NCAA title in the 200 freestyle in 2004, while also contributing to the 200 free relay and 400 free relay winning squads the same season. Kuntz was a first-place winner in the 200 butterfly at the 2008 championships. Polyakov became the third member of that trio this pas spring, winning four titles himself.
West Chester has crowned at least one All-American in each of the past 28 seasons. A total of 53 women and 46 men have earned that distinction during that time frame. Over that same span, the Golden Rams’ women have ranked in the Top 20 every year, while the men have appeared in the Top 20 a total of 18 times.
Regionally, West Chester built a dynasty in swimming & diving during the 1970s and Rudisill has certainly maintained that legacy, if not exceeding expectations when he assumed the reins in 1988-89.
For his efforts, Rudisill has copped PSAC coach of the year accolades 11 times for his work with the men’s team and four with the women. He was named the loop’s coach of the year on both the men’s side and women's side in 2012 and repeated on the women's side in 2013. West Chester men hold 10 of 14 PSAC individual records and all five five relay records in the conference. The women currently hold 11 of 14 individual marks and two of five relay times.
A 1980 graduate of the University of Virginia, Rudisill has also left an indelible mark on the community through his swimming instruction for young children.
Featured in a Comcast Sports program in 2005, WCU boasts the largest and most successful seasonal swim lesson program on the East Coast. Topping 4,000 young swimmers for 10 lessons each, between April and July, Rudisill quotes close to a 90 percent success rate for the 4-5 year old beginners making it unaided across the pool after only two weeks of instruction. Word has spread to yield unprecedented demand and an increasingly wide range of clientele spanning four states, who have frequented the program.
Rudisill and his wife of 25 years, Janice, are the proud parents of three children, J.J (23), Dylan (20) and Lissa (17). J.J. Rudisill was a four-year member of West Chester University's men's swimming team while Dylan Rudisill completed his junior season on the men's swim team in 2016.
