Jon Howell, a former assistant coach at Clemson University and 11-time NCAA national champion, was named head coach of the men's and women's swimming and diving programs at Emory University in the summer of 1998.
In 13 seasons at Emory, he has guided the Eagles to 25 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Division III men's and women's national championships and 26 conference team titles. In 2011, he led the Emory University women to their second-straight NCAA Division III Championship and fourth total under his tutelage, while the men finished third in the Nation. It marked the 12th-consecutive campaign that the men's program had finished fourth or better, while the women, in addition to their back-to-back national crowns in 2005 and 2006, now have a 11-year streak of finishing fourth or better at the National Championship.
Howell was honored as the national women's swimming Coach of the Year in 2002, 2005, 2009 and 2011. Howell and his assistants have been honored six times as conference Coaching Staff of the Year, most recently in 2011. In addition, he coached Liz Horvat to the Division III Swimmer of the Year honors in 2009.
Since his arrival at Emory, the Eagles have recorded 20 individual and nine relay national champions and an incredible 690 All-America certificates awarded to their swimmers. He has overseen ten conference swimmers of the year, six conference divers of the year, ten conference rookies of the year and had led both the men's and women's team to a UAA title in each of his 13 seasons with the team.
Howell was an assistant at Clemson, an NCAA Division I school, for two seasons in which the school claimed an Atlantic Coast Conference women's championship and attained 14 school record-setting performances.
Previously, Howell was the interim head coach at Kenyon College (Ohio) during the 1995-96 season in which his teams won the NCAA Division III national men's and women's championships. That season Kenyon won 14 national championships in individual or relay events, produced a Division III national record, established four new school records and swept the men's and women's conference titles.
Howell is a 1990 graduate of Kenyon, where he was 21-time All-American, primarily as a sprint freestyler. Among his 11 individual national championships are three consecutive in the 50-yard freestyle (1988-90), unmatched in NCAA Division III history in that event, and one in the 100-yard freestyle event (1990). Howell helped Kenyon to four national team championships and was twice voted the team's Most Valuable Performer. At the completion of his senior season, Howell was voted the school's Athlete of the Year.
His additional head coaching experience includes U.S. Swimming teams in Ohio and North Carolina. In the summer of 1995 Howell served as the United States' coach at the Hapoel Games in Israel.
Since coming to Emory prior to the 1999-2000 season, Cindy
Fontana has helped to lead the Eagles to unprecedented levels of
success.
With Fontana as part of the coaching staff, the Emory Swimming and
Diving men's and women's teams have finished no worse than seventh
in the nation, including National Championships for the
Women's team in 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011, and 11-consecutive
top-four finishes. The men's team has finished the season as
one of the top-four teams in the nation in each of her 12
seasons (the Eagles had never finished better than sixth nationally
before her arrival), including second-place finishes in 2001, 2004,
2005 and 2009. Emory has had 20 swimmers crowned
National Champions and nine national champion relay teams, and
the Eagles have had a combined 682 All-America certificates
awarded to their athletes since 2000.
Fontana has helped the Eagles become the premier swimming team in
the University Athletic Association (UAA), leading the Eagles to
12-consecutive conference titles, and coaching ten conference
swimmers of the year, and ten conference rookies of the
year. She was honored as part of the conference Coaching Staff
of the Year five times, most recently for the women's team in
2011.
Prior to her arrival at Emory in the fall of 1999, Fontana spent
three years as head coach for women's swimming and diving at
Southern Connecticut State University. During the 1995-96
season, Fontana was the assistant coach for Kenyon College, which
won both men's and women's NCAA team titles.
Fontana is a 1992 graduate of Kenyon (Ohio) where she was team
captain and an NCAA competitor in the distance freestyle events and
the 400 IM. Fontana received her master's degree in exercise
science from Southern Connecticut in 2004. She also has coached
Hopkins Mariners in New Haven, Conn.
Nick Lake was named the Assistant Coach for the swimming and
diving team, and the Aquatics Director for the Woodruff Physical
Education Center, prior to the start of the 2010-11 season.
In his first season with the Eagles, Lake helped the Emory Women to
their second-consecutive National Championship, while the men
finished third at the NCAA Division III Championship. He
helped Emory's swimmers win National Championships in four
individual events and three relays, in addition to earning 72
all-America certificates. Emory also won the University
Athletic Association (UAA) Men's and Women's Championships during
the year, as Lake was named part of the conference Coaching Staff
of the Year.
Lake spent the 2009-10 season serving as a full-time volunteer
coach with the Eagles, helping the women’s squad its third
NCAA Division III National Championship, and the men's squad to a
third-place finish. He also led both the men and women to UAA
Championships.
A member of the Emory swimming and diving team throughout his
collegiate career, Lake was a 12-time all-American, earning
certificates in the 400-yard individual medley, the 500-yard
freestyle, the 1,650-yard freestyle and the 800-yard freestyle
relay. He served as the captain of the team during his senior
season, and led the team four-consecutive conference championships
and four-straight top-four finishes at the NCAA Division III
Championships.
Lake graduated Magna Cum Laude from Emory in 2008 with a
bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Economics, earning a
prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship for his work in the pool,
the classroom and the community. He originally hails from
Dartmouth, MA, graduating from Dartmouth High School in 2004.
Chris Marshall, a former NCAA Division I swimmer, joined the Emory University varsity coaching staff in fall 2004. Previously, Marshall served at Emory for one year as the coach for the women's junior varsity team.
With Marshall on the coaching staff, the Emory women's team won National Championships in 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011, while the men recorded second-place national finishes in 2005 and 2009, and third-place national finishes in 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2011. Neither team has finished worse than fourth nationally since he came to the school. He has helped the Eagles' swimmers to 16 individual and nine relay National Champions, in addition to 410 All-America certificates.
Since joining the Eagles, Marshall has helped the team maintain its role as the dominant team in the University Athletic Association (UAA), winning the conference title in each of his seven seasons. He was part of the conference coaching staff of the year in 2007 and 2011, and has coached six conference swimmers of the year and six conference rookies of the year.
Marshall swam two years at NCAA Division I Lehigh (PA) before transferring to NCAA Division I Florida State University. He earned four varsity letters in high school at Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida.
Since moving to Atlanta in 1997, Marshall has been involved with the Dynamo Masters swimming program. He began as a swimmer, but in 1999 became an assistant coach for Dynamo Masters.
Marshall graduated from Florida State University in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering. He later earned a Master's of Science degree in manufacturing engineering from FSU in 1997.
Alexandre Kossenkov, a former Olympic diver, joined the Eagle
staff as diving coach in the fall of 1998. Kossenkov brought a
wealth of knowledge from his experience as a two-time Olympian and
11-time national diving champion for the former Soviet Union. He
won the bronze medal in springboard diving at the 1976 Olympic
Games in Montreal, Canada.
Kossenkov was named the University Athletic Association (UAA)
Diving Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2011. His divers have been
honored as the UAA Diver of the Year six times, most recently
Daniel Kolb during the 2011 campaign.
Kossenkov entered the coaching ranks with the Belarussian national
team where he remained for six years. Kossenkov was the head coach
of the Belarussian diving team for the 1996 Olympic Games.
Kossenkov is also the head coach of the U.S. club diving team Dive
Atlanta.
Andy Diechert joined the Eagles as an assistant coach prior to
the start of the 2010-11 season. His duties will consist of
working primarily with Emory's sprinters and breaststrokers.
In his first season with the Eagles, Diechert helped the Emory
Women to their second-consecutive National Championship, while the
men finished third at the NCAA Division III Championship. He
helped Emory's swimmers win National Championships in four
individual events and three relays, in addition to earning 72
all-America certificates. Emory also won the University
Athletic Association (UAA) Men's and Women's Championships during
the year, as Diechert was named part of the conference
Coaching Staff of the Year.
Prior to joining Emory's staff, Diechert worked as an assistant
coach with the Race Club in Islamorada, Florida from 2003-08.
He also served stints as an assistant coach for the University of
Hawaii (1998-2003) and the University of Miami (1997-98).
Diechert graduated from Louisiana State University in 1991, where
he was a four-time all-American in the 100-yard breaststroke and a
two-time all-American in the 400-yard medley relay. He won
the Southeastern Conference Championship in the 100-yard
breaststroke in 1986, and his times in the 100-yard breaststroke
and 200-yard breatstroke still rank sixth and eighth, respectively,
in LSU history. Diechert was a silver medalist at the World
University Games during his collegiate career.
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