Mary Bretscher has served as associate director of athleticssince 1996 and oversees the facility and event management forDePauw's indoor and outdoor venues. She also is an AssociateProfessor of Kinesiology.
Bretscher came to DePauw in August 1974 after earning a bachelorof arts degree in physical education from Western MichiganUniversity. In 1978, she obtained a master of science degree inphysical education from Indiana University.
She started the DePauw women's swimming and diving program in1974, building it into a regular participant at the nationalchampionships until her retirement in the spring of 2012.
During her career, she coached four NCAA PostgraduateScholarship recipients and five student-athletes who earned a totalof nine Academic All-America awards.
Her teams earned the College Swimming Coaches Association ofAmerica Team Scholar All America award all 26 years of itsexistence. Additionally, 23 student-athletes earned a total of 49CSCAA Scholar All-America Awards.
In the pool, 33 student-athletes earned all-America or honorablemention all-America honors during Bretscher's tenure. Additionally,Bretscher coached Midi Smyth who was the NCAA Division III 100-yardbackstroke national champion in 1985 and is one of four DePauwindividual national champions in any sport.
DePauw swimmers competed in 27 of the 31 NCAA Division IIIChampionships since the national meet began in 1982 and the Tigersscored in 20 of those Championships. Only 26 other DivisionIII programs have scored in at least 20 meets. Two teams earnedtop-10 finishes and six finished in the top 20. Bretscher's 1985squad finished seventh in Division III, while the 2008 team wasninth.
Bretscher led the Tigers to a fourth-place finish at this year'sNorth Coast Athletic Conference Championships and top-threefinishes in all 13 years in the Southern Collegiate AthleticConference including a conference title in 2003. She and thecoaching staff earned conference staff of the year honors fourtimes in the SCAC. Bretscher's teams posted a 185-133 record indual meets including a 129-52 mark over her last 20 seasons.
