Joe Lucia, who served as the Philip H. Bartels '71 Head Coach of Men's Swimming for 28 seasons and also guided the women's program for 15 years, stepped back from his head coaching responsibilities in April 2015 to take on a role as a volunteer assistant and the program's chief fundraiser.
The all-time winningest coach for both the men's and women's programs, his 224 combined wins ranks 13th all-time among Big Red coaches in all sports. Lucia's 28 seasons poolside guiding the Cornell men's program also ranks 13th all-time among Big Red coaches and second to Scotty Little's 32 years.
During his time with the Big Red, Lucia guided the men's team to a 152-132-1 mark in dual meets. In all, 24 individuals and eight relay teams (six men's, two women's) won Eastern/Ivy League championships since he took over the program in 1987. He directed the 2007 men's team to a perfect 10-0 dual meet record and a regular season EISL title, while the 2009 squad finished a best-ever third in the EISL meet. His men's teams won six EISL/Ivy League relay events, the first coming in 2006 and four more coming a year later. Individual swimming champions that won titles under Lucia include Phil Baity (1), Michael Cai (1), Sasha Evdokimov (2), Dave Hager (1), Dean Holcomb (1), Dave McKechnie (5), Wes Newman (3), Brad Shaw (1), Mike Smit (7) and Sherwood Yuen (2). Four student-athletes - Stefano Caprara, Dave McKechnie, Wes Newman and Mike Smith - qualified for the NCAA championships.
A two-time Coach of the Year with the women, Lucia guided three Cornell women's swimmers to Eastern/Ivy League championships (Kim Milligan, Chiara Spinazzola, Trina Young). The 1995 team achieved a third-place finish at the Ivy Championships, while the Big Red women won the 200-yard freestyle relay at the championship meet in both 1994 and 1995, becoming the first Cornell men's or women's team to capture a league relay crown. After the programs were split in 1996, Lucia again took hold of the women in 2010 and had an immediate impact, moving the team from eighth in the Ivy League regular season and championships to sixth in duals and fifth at the championship meet.
The restructuring of the program in 2008 put Lucia back in charge of both the men's and women's teams for the first time since the 1994-95 season. He directed both programs from when he was appointed October 1987 until 1996. In 1998, when the men's position was endowed by former Cornell swimmer Phil Bartels '71, Lucia became the first Philip H. Bartels Head Coach of Swimming.
A 1973 graduate of Cortland State, Lucia came to Cornell after serving as the head swimming coach of Union-Endicott HS and the Union Aquatic Club for 11 years. Having taught in the public school system for 14 years, in addition to coaching at all developmental levels of a United States swimming club, Lucia has a strong grassroots background to effectively communicate and work with collegiate student-athletes.
* Updated May 2020
