Former All-America swimmer, coach and Ohio Wesleyan UniversityAthletic Hall of Fame inductee Sue Pressler entersher second season as an assistant coach with the Bryant Universitymen's and women's swimming programs in 2011-12.
Pressler, who also enters her first year as BryantUniversity’s Life Skills Coordinator and Student-AthleteAdvisory Committee (SAAC) Advisor, is far from a stranger to BryantUniversity, the Bulldog Athletic Department or Division Iathletics.
In addition to her work with the swimming programs, she has alsoworked as the Bryant Bulldog Classic Lacrosse Tournamentadministrator over the past three years, as well as running allPresslax Xtreme lacrosse camps in Smithfield and across the countryfor husband and Bryant head men’s lacrosse coach MikePressler.
Beyond her previous work at Bryant, Pressler brings extensiveexperience across a gamut of collegiate venues, including therealms of both athletics and academics.
A four-year All-American at the University of Michigan from1978-82, Pressler captained her team as a senior, setting numerousWolverine records across her career, many of which still standtoday. A Big Ten champion and conference record holder as well, sheparticipated in the 1980 Olympic Swimming Trials and was a femaleathlete of the year finalist at Michigan in 1982.
Following her career in the pool, Pressler started anillustrious career on the pool decks, spending the next eight yearsas the head men’s and women’s swimming coach at OhioWesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. During her tenure with theBattling Bishops (1983-1991), Pressler quickly turned both programsinto North Coast Athletic Conference powerhouses, coaching 16All-Americans and eight future Hall of Famers. Of the records herswimmers set, 13 remain intact as of 2010.
Her athletes weren’t the only ones rewarded for theirefforts, either. Pressler was named the NCAC Women’s SwimCoach of the Year three times (1985, 1986, 1988) and earned theMen’s Swim Coach of the Year accolade in 1990. Pressler wasinducted into the Ohio Wesleyan Athletic Hall of Fame herself in2007.
Out of the pool, Pressler was a tenured professor of physicaleducation at Ohio Wesleyan as well as an academic advisor. Shedeveloped and implemented faculty fitness testing and the ExercisePrescription Program in 1987 and ran it until her departure in1991.
Following her time at OWU, Pressler spent 16 years in Durham,N.C., at Duke University, where she again had influence in both theacademic and athletic realms of the college. Pressler worked in theDuke Admissions Office as a first reader of undergraduateapplications from 1991-99, also serving as assistant coach andrecruiting coordinator for the Blue Devil men’s andwomen’s swimming programs from 1991-98.
Pressler also worked as the administrator of all Duke Universitylacrosse camps throughout her time in Durham (1991-2006) and was avolunteer at the Ronald McDonald House of Durham from1998-2006.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Pressler earned herBachelor of Science in Kinesiology in 1982 and remained in AnnArbor, where she received her Master’s in Exercise Physiologyfrom Michigan’s Rackham Graduate School in 1983.
In 1989, Pressler earned her certification as a ClinicalExercise Specialist (ACSM-CES) through the American College ofSports Medicine, and she also holds certifications in AdvancedCardiac Life Support, CPR, as a Water Safety Instructor Trainer andas a Lifeguard Instructor Trainer. Pressler is a member of theAmerican College of Sports Medicine, the American Swimming CoachesAssociation and U.S. Swimming.
Pressler and her husband, Mike, currently reside in Smithfield,R.I. The Presslers have two daughters, Maggie and Janet, whocurrently plays Division I volleyball.
