Pat Snively

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In his 11th season at Fairmont State, Patrick Snively (36) is the longest serving head swimming coach at a single institution in the state of West Virginia.

During his first ten years at Fairmont State, Snively was awarded the American Swimming Coaches Association Certificate of Excellence five times and was named the WVIAC men’s Coach of the Year in 2005. He coached swimmers to eighteen All-American performances, twenty-seven school records and five National Swimmer of the Week honors.

The men have set 18 new team records. They have achieved All-American status on 18 occasions, Academic All-American status three times, conference Swimmer of the Year awards seven times, and have finished in the top 20 in the nation on four occasions. In 2007, Snively coached Colebank and Feaster Award winner and 12-time All-American Matej Tomas to a runner-up finish in the 200 butterfly at the NCAA championships. In 2010, Emir Atilgan set a new school record in the 1000 freestyle and achieved an NCAA ‘B’ standard. Last season, Jorah Gebert, Atanas Madolev, Justin Kangisser, and Ryan Radcliff broke the school record in the 200 medley relay.

The Falcon women’s program has earned Academic All-American honors every season since 2001 from the College Swim Coaches Association of America and has achieved the highest GPA of any Division II institution on two occasions. In 2003, Toni Riley was named NCAA Woman of the Year for the state of West Virginia. In 2009, West Virginia native Cassie Lutz set school records in the 200 butterfly and 400 IM and qualified for the NCAA Championships. Fairmont native, Kathryn Saurborn set new school records in the 50 and 100 freestyle last season and achieved an NCAA ‘B’ standard in the 50 freestyle.

Snively received his bachelor’s degree from Fairmont State in 1999 and his master’s degree in 2000 from West Virginia University. He is currently seeking a Master’s in Business Administration from Fairmont State and is an instructor in the Health and Human Performances Department.

Snively is a member of the College Swim Coaches Association of America, the American Swimming Coaches Association, USA Swimming and the Fairmont State Faculty Senate. He also serves as team director and head coach for the Fairmont Area Swim Team. Snively and his wife Amy reside in Fairmont.