{"id":616224,"date":"2025-06-30T20:35:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T03:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=616224"},"modified":"2025-06-30T20:35:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T03:35:01","slug":"passages-john-brucato-long-time-bellarmine-coach-age-63","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/passages-john-brucato-long-time-bellarmine-coach-age-63\/","title":{"rendered":"Passages: John Brucato, Long-Time Bellarmine Coach, Age 63"},"content":{"rendered":"

Passages: John Brucato, Long-Time Bellarmine Coach, Age 63<\/strong><\/p>\n

John Brucato,<\/strong> the founding and long-time coach of Bellarmine University, died on June 24. He was 63 years old.<\/p>\n

Brucato was the first coach of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s swimming program, serving as the head coach from 2012 to his retirement in 2023 after a diagnosis of ALS in 2021.<\/p>\n

He is a member of the school\u2019s Bellarmine Athletics Hall of Fame, the first from the swimming program to join that group when he was inducted this month.<\/p>\n

“We were deeply saddened to learn of John’s passing,” Bellarmine athletics director Scott Wiegandt said in a press release<\/a>. “He was a great Bellarmine Knight, a prince of a man and a beacon for everything that is right in collegiate athletics. He will be sorely missed.”<\/p>\n