Bret Lundgaard, a 2004 graduate of Boulder City High School was named Ivy League Coach of the Year after leading Princeton to a 2022-23 conference championship.
“This honor is definitely a tribute to our staff and our team,” Lundgaard said. “COVID was very tough on our program. While the majority of Division I programs had to only wait three, four months to get back to training, it took the Ivy League 16 months. It took time to reestablish our culture but thankfully we have great athletes who are competitive and care about each other.”
Lundgaard, the son of Boulder City head coach Sara Carroll, now has two conference championships under his belt in between COVID years, winning his first in the 2019-20 season. After the adversity his program had faced, he called this win even sweeter.
“This win was very satisfying,” Lundgaard said. “We went through the wringer the prior two years, experiencing so many individual stories of hardship that required a lot of perseverance, dedication and commitment. When you win your first one, it’s really cool, but to win it again, required so much more and it was definitely rewarding.”
Taking over the program from legendary coach Susan Teeter, who won 17 Ivy League titles during her 33-year tenure, Lundgaard has kept the winning tradition alive at Princeton.
Winning their 24th Ivy League title in program history, the Tigers won 12 out of 20 events at the championship meet, with Nikki Venema named High Point Swimmer of the meet and Charlotte Martinkus named High Point Diver.
Under Lundgaard’s tutelage, Venema went on to get invited to the NCAA championships in three events: 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle, while he helped the Tigers break eight school records and two Ivy records (200 medley relay and 200 free relay) this past season.
Although his program is viewed as a mid-major in the college landscape, Lundgaard has seen a change in recruiting so far and hopes the trend continues.
“We’ve been fortunate to have great athletes and over the past few years, we’ve seen a spike in recruiting,” said Lundgaard. “Obviously Princeton as a university sells itself and our swim program is a great attraction. Swimmers want to come here and compete.”
Grateful to be winning conference championships, Lundgaard still strives for more as he hopes to elevate Princeton on a national level in the coming seasons.
“We’re very fortune to attract great student athletes,” Lundgaard said. “We’ve had a lot of success in the Ivys and I think that will continue to translate nationally. I believe we can be a top 15 program in the country, hopefully one day qualify a swimmer for the Olympics. I believe our future here is very bright and we just have to put in the work.”
Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.