Mark Sowa is in his 14th year as the head coach of the University of Idaho women's swimming and diving program. Sowa's Vandals have rewritten the record books, earned the best conference championships performances in program history and taken care of business in the classroom.
Coach Sowa successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Existential Coaching Education: A Pedagogical Pathway to Alleviate Anxiety and Increase Coping Skills of Collegiate Female Swimmers,” on Nov. 10, 2022, earning him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education. Sowa walked with his graduating seniors in May of 2023.
Under Sowa, Idaho women's swimming and diving has posted four top-four finishes at the Western Athletic Conference Championships, including a program-best runner-up finish in 2014, led by WAC Swimmer of the Year Rachel Millet. The Vandals took third in back-to-back seasons of 2017 and 2018.
The 2023-24 campaign featured multiple highlights throughout regular season play and postseason action. Idaho brought home four medals from their WAC Championship performances, including a pair of silver medal finishes in school record-breaking fashion by Ella Haskins in the 50 and 100 free. Ginger Kiefer added a bronze finish to complete a true freshman season that included 15 first-place nods and three school-record finishes. Not only did Haskins' individual efforts lead her en route towards two podium finishes, but she also helped direct the 400 relay team of Sydney Heasman, Grace Ruble and Maddy Butler to bronze. The Vandals finished with a 5-5 overall mark, totaled the most conference victories (3) since 2016-17 and earned the program's first win over Grand Canyon in four years. Idaho ended the academic year with a program-best 3.77 team GPA.
In 2021-22, the Vandals had multiple swimmers and divers put together notable performances at the WAC Championships. Zoe Froh posted a top-5 finish in her second year of competition at WAC, placing fourth overall in the 400-yard individual medley while setting the second-fastest mark in school history. She also earned a sixth-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle event. Ani Husaby posted two top-8 finishes, placing sixth in the 100-yard backstroke and eighth in the 200-yard back. Freshman Heather Hopkins filed an impressive debut at the conference championships as well, earning runner-up in the 1-meter finals.
Individuals have flourished at Idaho with Sowa at the helm. Jamie Sterbis became the first Vandal to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 2014, advancing in the 200-yard butterfly after breaking the school record by more than eight seconds - a mark that remains atop the record book today. Sterbis won three WAC titles in her career across the butterfly events and still owns the school record at both distances. Millet, in addition to claiming WAC Swimmer of the Year, won four conference titles and left with the school records in three individual events and four relays. Leah Fisk wrapped up her career in 2019. In her three years at Idaho, Fisk scored 129 points in individual events at the WAC Championships - third most in program history. She left as the school record holder in the 500-yard freestyle, one of five events in which she ranks in the top 10 in school history. 2020 was an interesting year, with the WAC Championships adjusted due to local issues in Houston and the NCAA Championships getting canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. However, the Vandals saw a number of positive performances, including a first-place finish for sophomore Katie Hale in the 100-yard backstroke at the WAC Championships. Leading a very young squad in 2020-21, Sowa made the most of a challenging situation. Hale excelled all season long and went on to graduate after just three years of schooling.
Sowa has also emphasized the diving program during his tenure to great success. Janelle Lucas graduated in 2019, after winning four straight WAC championships on the platform. Lucas became the first four-time winner of the event in conference history and just the third woman to sweep any individual event in swimming or diving at the WAC meet. She finished her career with 165 career points at the conference meet, the most by a Vandal diver. Lucas began her career in the shadows of two Idaho greats. Paige Hunt and Mairin Jameson both earned WAC Diver of the Year honors as Vandals. Hunt won the top award in 2013, while Jameson claimed the honor in 2014. Each won a pair of event titles during their careers, including Jameson sweeping the springboards on her way to Diver of the Year honors. Freshman Emily Mack was outstanding at the WAC Championships in 2021, earning a spot on the podium in the platform dive.
Idaho women's swimming and diving student-athletes have excelled in the classroom. The Vandals have earned Scholar All-America Team distinction from the College Swim Coaches Association of America for 20 semesters, including numerous terms with a top-25 grade-point average nationally. During Sowa's tenure, Idaho swimmers and divers have claimed 287 Academic All-WAC honors.
Idaho is not the first collegiate program Sowa has guided to success. He led the Wagner program to many milestones in his three seasons as the head coach. Sowa's swimmers set 23 school records, two conference records, earned 12 All-NEC honors and the program's first NEC Swimmer of the Year award. Sowa also coached the program's first NCAA provisional qualifier.
Wagner owned a combined 15-15 overall record and went 10-4 in the Northeast Conference under Sowa, finishing in the top three at the NEC Championships all three seasons, including a second-place finish in 2008-09. Sowa's student-athletes excelled outside of the pool as well, as his swimmers combined for 37 NEC All-Academic honors in his three years.
Before taking over at Wagner, Sowa spent the previous 10 years building his coaching resume. From 2007-08 he was the assistant men's swim coach at Harvard University. Before that, he was the coach at the Barracuda Swim Club in Nassau, Bahamas from 2005-07, where he won the Bahamas National Swimming Championship. Sowa was the assistant and then interim head coach at Maryland from 2004-05 after stints as an assistant at Brown University from 1999-2001 and at Richmond University from 2001-2004
Sowa graduated from The American University with his bachelor's degree in History and Philosophy before earning his master's degree from Brown in American History. He recently earned his doctoral degree at the University of Idaho in 2023.
