Mark Yankovich joined The University of Scranton as head men's and women's swimming & diving coach and aquatics director in September 2016.
In the 2017-18 season, Yankovich led both programs to third place finishes at the Landmark Conference Championships. The Royals combined for seven individual conference championships during the meet led by a trio by freshman Lauren Byrne, who was named the Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year. On the men's side, Timothy Quigley won a pair of gold medals while Michael Diana was honored as the Landmark Conference Diver of the Year for the second season in a row.
Yankovich's squads continued to excel in the classroom as well as both the men's and women's teams earned CSCAA Scholar All-American Team honors while Byrne was honored as a CSCAA Scholar All-American Honorable Mention selection.
In his first season as head coach, Yankovich guided the men's and women's teams to second place finishes at the 2017 Landmark Conference Championships, leading the men's squad to their best placement at the event in five seasons. Meanwhile, the women's team placed second for the fifth time in program history.
Individually, Yankovich coached three All-Landmark Conference First Team selections on the men's side in 2017, along with six second team picks. Leading the group was freshman Michael Diana, who was named the Landmark Conference's Diver of the Year. For the women, six earned All-Landmark Conference first team honors, paced by Raquel Wasserman, who nabbed First Team accolades in four different events.
In dual meets in his first season at the helm, the women's team was 8-2 overall, while the men finished 5-5.
Yankovich came to the University with extensive experience at both the NCAA Division I and Division III levels. He most recently coached at LaSalle University and has also worked at Lafayette College and Washington College over the past nine years after completing his collegiate career at McDaniel College.
With four years of experience coaching at the Division I level and two years at the Division III level, along with having been an NCAA Division III athlete, Yankovich brings more than a decade of NCAA knowledge to Scranton. He also has experience coaching at the club level and has worked swim camps at the Division I and III levels.
Yankovich spent the past year as an assistant coach at LaSalle University, an NCAA Division I institution in Philadelphia. While there, he recruited local, national and foreign student-athletes, coached six swimmers to U.S. nationals as well as four different swimmers to the U.S. Olympic Trials, the Swedish Nationals, Polish Nationals and Canadian Olympic Trials. He was also responsible for organizing and budgeting travel for meets, a training trip and the team banquet.
Prior to joining LaSalle, Yankovich was a graduate assistant coach at Washington College, an NCAA Division III institution in Chestertown, Md. from September 2010 to August 2012. During his time at Washington, he recruited swimmers who broke every school record, and coached multiple Centennial Conference champions and one swimmer who qualified for the NCAA Division III championships. He also started a weight lifting program, supervised the school’s lifeguards and worked within the constraints of the program’s budget to purchase new record boards, a pace clock and training equipment.
Yankovich also spent three seasons from September 2007 to August 2010 as an assistant coach at Lafayette College, an NCAA Division I institution in Bethlehem, Pa. While at Lafayette, his coaching duties focused on the sprint and middle distance events. He also helped the head coach set up and plan recruiting visits and started the Leopards Swim Clinic for local youth swimmers.
Between his time at Lafayette and Washington College, Yankovich was the head group coach at the Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club in Sewell, N.J. He was the head coach of more than 100 athletes from ages 8 to 25, and supervised six assistant coaches and four athlete assistants. He also organized team bonding activities that included water park trips and team breakfasts.
Yankovich’s club coaching experience also includes serving as the head coach of the Lehigh Valley Aquatics in Bethlehem from May 2008 to August 2009. During that time, he led pool and dry land workouts, supervised age group coaches and worked with the parent board to set up a long-term plan for the newly formed club.
Yankovich also worked as a lead coach at the Washington Swim Camp in 2010 and the Navy Swim Camp in 2009, and was a counselor at the Michigan Swim Camp in 2008. He is a certified instructor in CPR, AED and lifesaving from the American Red Cross, and also has certifications from the American Swim Coach Association and as a First Tee Coach from the Philadelphia chapter.
A 2007 graduate of McDaniel College, Yankovich has his bachelor’s degree in exercise science. He has a master’s degree in psychology from Washington College, which he completed in 2012.
