Bridgewater State Names MacDonald Interim Headvert Swimming & Diving Coach

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Bridgewater State University alumnus Charlie MacDonald has been named interim head coach of the Bears’ males’s and girls’s swimming & diving applications, as introduced by Bridgewater State Associate Vice President for Student Life & Athletics Dr. Marybeth Lamb.

MacDonald takes over the applications following the departure of longtime head coach Mike Caruso, who lately stepped down after 15 seasons on the helm. MacDonald, a former Bridgewater State student-athlete and assistant coach, returns to steer a program with which he has been linked for greater than a decade.

A 2015 graduate of Bridgewater State, MacDonald competed for the Bears’ swimming & diving program for 4 seasons and served as captain of the boys’s group throughout his junior and senior campaigns.

Following his collegiate profession, MacDonald transitioned into teaching and remained concerned with the Bears. He first served as an assistant coach throughout the 2015-16 season earlier than returning as a volunteer assistant from 2019 by way of 2024.

MacDonald was a member of the Bridgewater State teaching employees throughout a historic 2021-22 season by which the Bears captured the inaugural Little East Conference Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship, securing the primary convention championship in program historical past.

“The opportunity to succeed my mentor and friend, Mike Caruso, is an honor,” MacDonald stated. “I am looking forward to building on the success he brought to this program along with the incredible assistant coaches and student-athletes here.”

In addition to his expertise at Bridgewater State, MacDonald has constructed an intensive teaching résumé at each the collegiate and highschool ranges. He joined the Tufts University teaching employees as an assistant in 2016 earlier than being named head swimming coach at Cedar Crest College in August 2017.

MacDonald helped set up Cedar Crest’s diving program and was elevated to go swimming & diving coach in July 2018. He was named the Northeast Athletic Conference (NEAC) Women’s Coach of the Year in every of his two seasons main this system.

He later served as affiliate head swimming coach at Dexter Southfield School starting in 2022 earlier than returning to the collegiate ranks as an assistant coach at Babson College from 2024-26.

MacDonald presently serves as a arithmetic and science trainer at Saint Catherine of Siena School in Norwood, Massachusetts, along with his new position with the Bears.

“Being part of this program as a student-athlete and assistant coach helped shape me as a person, and being able to return as head coach is a dream come true,” MacDonald stated. “I am so excited to return to Bridgewater State to lead the Swimming & Diving program. Thank you to Dr. Lamb and everyone at BSU Athletics for giving me this opportunity.”

Bridgewater State enters the 2026-27 season below MacDonald’s management trying to proceed its success within the Little East Conference. The Bears’ males’s program has been part of the LEC for the reason that convention started sponsoring males’s swimming & diving in 2021-22.