Coaching Experience
• Head Coach, Cornell University (2015-present)
• Assistant and Associate Head Coach, Cornell University (2013-15)
• Head Coach, Saint Francis (Pa.) University (2003-13)
• Assistant Coach, Cornell University (2001-03)
• Head Coach, Methacton High School (1999-00)
• Aquatics Director, Albany Country Club (1995-01)
Honors and Accomplishments
• Guided Cornell swimmers to 16 individual and five relay records as head coach, along with 132 individual and 46 relay top 10 times in school history.
• Two-time Northeast Conference Coach of the Year.
• Led Saint Francis (Pa.) to four consecutive Northeast Conference titles.
• All-time winningest head coach in Saint Francis (Pa.) history.
Education
• B.A., Social Studies, La Salle (1999)
• M.S., Educational Leadership, Saint Francis (Pa.) (2007)
At Cornell
Patrick Gallagher, who had two stints as assistant and associate head coach at Cornell and has a long string of success as a Division I head coach, took over the Big Red program in April 2015.
Cornell's 2023-24 season was a historic one on many levels. The Big Red finished with a 5-4 mark overall, making it the first time since 2013-14 and 2014-15 that the team had five or more dual wins in consecutive seasons. Cornell also swept its first conference opener against Harvard and Dartmouth, which snapped a 38-meet losing streak to the Crimson. The top ten times also saw some shuffling with six new individual and four new relay record times swam over the season, including the top times in the 100 Freestyle and 100 Butterfly changing hands for the first time in a decade. Under Gallagher's direction, Cornell also secured its most team points (611) at the Ivy Championship since 2017.
The 2022-23 season would go down as one of the fastest in Big Red history, with the team setting a program record for most school record times broken, resetting the fastest finishes 10 times across eight different events.
From his first to his second year at the helm, Gallagher helped Cornell increase its win total overall and in Ivy competition, as the Big Red jumped a spot in the Ivy dual meet standings from 2015-16 to 2016-17. In addition, Cornell's string of three consecutive seventh-place finishes at the Ivy championship meet in Gallagher's first three seasons tied the program's best marks since 2010.
In six seasons, Gallagher’s athletes have rewritten the Cornell record book. Cornell has set 16 individual school records and posted 140 times among the top 10 all-time fastest swims in Big Red history. Gallagher's student-athletes have also broken 10 relay records and posted 46 relay times that made the top-10 list.
Gallagher started his collegiate coaching career at Cornell in 2001 and spent two seasons with the Big Red. During his time on the pool deck, he served as the team's recruiting coordinator and assisted in all aspects of the program. Working with then-head coach Marrie Neumer, Cornell went 12-11 in dual meet competition. Gallagher also worked with men’s head coach Joe Lucia at that time.
Gallagher helped make an immediate impact with the women's team upon his return to Ithaca in 2013, as the squad posted a 6-3 overall dual meet record that included wins over Boston College and Colgate, as well as the program's first-ever victory over Princeton (0-32) and its first over Penn in 13 years. The Big Red set 11 school records at the 2014 Ivy League championship meet, rewriting the record book with season and career-best swims.
Prior to Cornell
The 2010 and 2012 Northeast Conference Coach of the Year, Gallagher spent 10 seasons guiding the Saint Francis (Pa.) women's program. He helped the team to four consecutive conference titles (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013).
The all-time winningest head coach in Saint Francis history, Gallagher guided the program to its first-ever league championship in 2010 to begin a four-peat. His first team in 2004 finished in 11th place at the league meet. Three times during his tenure, the Red Flash tied a school record for dual meet wins in a season with 10, the last coming in 2010-11. Gallagher recruited or coached 12 conference relay champions, 18 individual conference champions, and competitors that set eight conference records and 180 all-time top 10 school marks. His teams were consistently recognized for their efforts in the classroom, earning CSCAA Scholastic All-America distinction and ranking among the NCAA's top-25 grade point averages in eight of his last 10 semesters with the squad.
At Saint Francis, Gallagher also coached swimmers who qualified for the U.S. Winter National Championships in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Prior to his first stint at Cornell, Gallagher was the assistant aquatics director at the Albany Country Club (1995-2001) and spent one season as head swimming coach at Methacton High School in Norristown, Pa. He has extensive experience in a camp setting, serving as a counselor at Nebraska, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Cornell.
Personal
Patrick and his wife Megan reside in Dryden with their daughter, Clare.
