Legendary Bentley Coach Mary Kay Samko Announces Retirement<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Legendary Bentley University head coach Mary Kay Samko announced her retirement Tuesday, effective at the end of the academic year.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/legendary-bentley-coach-mary-kay-samko-announces-retirement\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legendary Bentley Coach Mary Kay Samko Announces Retirement\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Legendary Bentley University head coach Mary Kay Samko announced her retirement Tuesday, effective at the end of the academic year.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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{"id":604395,"date":"2025-02-04T10:34:15","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T17:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=604395"},"modified":"2025-02-04T10:34:15","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T17:34:15","slug":"legendary-bentley-coach-mary-kay-samko-announces-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/legendary-bentley-coach-mary-kay-samko-announces-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Legendary Bentley Coach Mary Kay Samko Announces Retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legendary Bentley Coach Mary Kay Samko Announces Retirement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Legendary Bentley University head coach Mary Kay Samko<\/strong> announced her retirement Tuesday, effective at the end of the academic year.<\/p>\n

Samko is in her 29th year coaching the Falcons and her 43rd as a head coach in college. She has won exactly 600 dual meets in her career, including a 506-148 record at Bentley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany years ago, Bentley Athletic Director Bob DeFelice reached out to ask me to become the Bentley swim coach,\u201d Samko said in a university press release<\/a>. \u201cSince then, Bentley has been my home. Thank you to all of the swimmers and divers who have taught me so much along the way. It has been a pleasure to watch you grow and mature and stay a part of the team that you helped to create. I appreciate the support of the Bentley community and my coaching peers. And of course for the support and love of my family who understand the life of coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samko also coached at Tufts University, the University of South and Southern Connecticut State University before arriving in at Bentley in 1996. The program was in its third season then, and she has shepherded both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams since then, also serving as the school\u2019s aquatics director. She\u2019s led the women\u2019s team to a 364-120 record and the men to a 236-88 mark for the Northeast 10 and Division II program.<\/p>\n

Samko has led the Falcons to four Northeast 10 men\u2019s titles and 19 runner-up results combined between the genders. She\u2019s led eight women\u2019s teams and seven men\u2019s to New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association championships. She has been named the Northeast 10 Men\u2019s Swimming Coach of the Year four times and the NEISDA Coach of the Year on seven occasions.<\/p>\n

\u201cMary Kay\u2019s name is synonymous with Bentley\u2019s swim and dive program,\u201d said Anne Kaduboski<\/strong>, a Bentley Athletic Hall of Famer for her exploits as a swimmer under Samko and now an assistant coach. \u201cHer records speak for themselves, but the success of the program is a testament to her leadership and dedication. What truly sets her apart is her unwavering commitment to mentoring athletes, both in the pool and in life, leaving a lasting impact on their lives and the program\u2019s legacy. I genuinely believe I wouldn\u2019t have reached my full potential without her coaching. Mary Kay\u2019s influence at Bentley is profound, and her legacy will continue to inspire for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMary Kay Samko and Bentley swimming and diving have become synonymous over the years. It\u2019s hard to think of one without the other,\u201d said Rick Danehy,<\/strong> Bentley\u2019s diving coach through Samko\u2019s tenure. \u201cIt will be her presence on the pool deck that I will miss the most. Mary Kay has a way of instilling confidence in both athletes and coaches alike. She is the most genuine and caring coach I have worked with. She is the coach that other coaches go to for answers and she always has the one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samko is a 1976 graduate of Boston College, the first woman to be inducted to the BC Athletic Hall of Fame. She won a 16th NEISDA Coach of the Year award in 1987 with Southern Connecticut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"