Sergio Lopez Miro, Tim Murphy, Tom Himes to be Inducted to ISCA Hall of Fame

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Sergio Lopez Miro, Tim Murphy, Tom Himes to be Inducted to ISCA Hall of Fame

Sergio Lopez Miro, Tim Murphy and Tom Himes comprise the 2023 class to the International Swim Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

The trio will be inducted in a ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Crowne Plaza Valley Forge in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The ISCA Hall of Fame ceremony will be held during the annual Eastern States Coaches Clinic, which runs from Oct. 13-15.

Lopez Miro is in his sixth season at Virginia Tech, the most recent in a series of stops. He mentored the Hokies’ first national champion last year (Youssef Ramadan in the 100 fly) and a ninth-place finish for the men’s team that is the best in program history.

The bronze medalist at the 1988 Olympics in the 200 breaststroke, Lopez Miro has coached at four Olympics, including for Singapore as the head coach at the 2016 Olympics. There, the country won its first Olympic gold medal, thanks to Joseph Schooling. He was an assistant for Singapore at the 2012 Games and head coach for Netherlands Antilles in 2008.

Lopez was twice the Big East Coach of the Year in leading West Virginia from 2004-07, then coached the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla., from 2007-14, working with Schooling and Ryan Murphy.

“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame as a coach is a privilege and an honor,” Lopez Miro said in a Virginia Tech statement. “I have to thank so many people, from all the coaches I had, to the coaches that work with me here at Virginia Tech. What being inducted means to me is that it shows a by-product of a lot of years of work. This happened by working hard, but also by being lucky to work with such a talented group of individuals. It also happened by having the facilities and the opportunities at the places I have worked, like Virginia Tech, to keep doing what I love to do.”

Murphy is in his 11th season in charge of Penn State’s men’s and women’s teams. The 2023 NCAA Championships was the 10th straight season in which the Nittany Lions scored at NCAAs. That period includes three NCAA medalists – Irish Olympian Shane Ryan in 2014 and 2015, American Ally McHugh in 2018 and 2019 and diver Hector Garcia Boissier in 2019. Murphy sent three former Nittany Lions to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Murphy has been a Division I head coach for 25 seasons, overseeing 31 individuals who have collected 75 All-American honors. He was designated a U.S. national team coach for 2017-18 and 2018-19. In 15 seasons at Harvard, he compiled a 122-11 dual-meet record.

Among his international honors is serving as the head coach for the U.S. men’s open water team at the 2012 Olympics. He worked as an assistant men’s coach for the 2001 and 2009 World University Games, the 1993 World Short-Course Championships and 1998 World Championships, the latter in open water.

Himes has been coaching since the late 1970s, starting with North Baltimore Aquatic Club in 1985 and working with many of the legendary swimmers to come through NBAC’s ranks. He was the head age-group coach from 1985-2002, departing for short stints at Retriever Aquatic Club, Green Terror Aquatic Club and Loyola Blakefield Aquatics.

Himes returned to NBAC in 2009, retaking his head age group coach role from 2010-16 until being named NBAC head coach in 2016. He led NBAC to 11 straight American Swimming Coaches Association Age Group National Team Championships, working with Michael Phelps, Beth Botsford and many others. A long-time member of Maryland Swimming’s board of directors, he coached and coordinators its Zone Team and was on the National Age Group Development Committee from 2017-20.

More info on the ISCA Hall of Fame induction can be found on its website.

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Kevin

7 months ago

Congrats to Tim Murphy you forget to mention all the ymca national titles his team win at Wilton ymca