Swimming & Diving
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach, Women's Swimming/Operations
- Alma Mater:
- Kenyon College, 2008
- Phone:
- 412-648-8341
Dr. Marc Christian is in his fifth season as a coach for Pitt swimming & diving, and the 2020-21 campaign will be Christian’s second year as associate head coach for women’s swimming and operations at the University of Pittsburgh.
A doctor of higher education, Christian not only handles the day-to-day operations and travel schedule for Pitt’s approximately 60 swimming & diving student-athletes, but he also contributes as an experienced swimming coach and plays a major role in the recruitment of future Panthers.
Since arriving at Pitt in 2016, Christian’s organization and tutelage has been vital in helping head coach John Hargis build the Panthers into one of the rising programs in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Christian has facilitated the recruitment and development of student-athletes that have almost completely re-written the Pitt program record books over the past four years. In that time, 39 school records have been broken, with 15 Panthers qualifying for the NCAA Championships, while Pitt swimmers and divers have combined to reach 25 ACC championship finals with five ACC medals won.
Prior to the 2019-20 campaign, Dr. Christian was promoted by Coach Hargis to associate head coach, with his duties focused on the women’s swimming team and program operations and administration.
“Marc has an incredible, genuine excitement for the sport, and he is a tremendous asset to our staff,” Hargis said. “He is a talented, driven young coach. His outlook for the University of Pittsburgh and where he sees this program moving align perfectly with the goals and philosophy of our program.”
Among his many contributions to Pitt’s program, Christian has spearheaded the opening of an international recruiting pipeline for the Panthers. The result of those efforts have seen increased success on the international stage by Pitt athletes, including recent domestic national championships won by active Panthers in the United States, South Africa, France and Israel.
Two Pitt swimmers – France’s Samy Helmbacher and South Africa’s Eben Vorster – represented their countries at the 2019 World University Games in Italy, while Vorster was also selected to compete for the South African national team at the 2019 World Championships in South Korea.
This past season, the Panthers continued to make notable progress as a team. The 2019-20 campaign saw three Pitt athletes qualify for the 2020 NCAA Championships, while both Pitt men’s and women’s teams posted improved results in the pool at the 2020 ACC Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. At the conclusion of the season, Serena Buchwald, Amy Read and Blaise Vera were each named to the CSCAA All-America Team.
In 2018-19, the incredible improvement of Pitt men’s swimming & diving was one of the big stories at the ACC Championships, with the Panthers breaking 14 school records during the meet while placing two athletes on the podium and earning top-five relay finishes at the ACC meet for the first time in program history. At the end of the season, Helmbacher, Read and Vera each represented the University of Pittsburgh at the 2019 NCAA Championships.
During the 2017-18 campaign, Pitt swimmers combined to set 20 school records—with the men posting seven all-time Pitt marks and the women besting 13 Panther records, including all five women’s relay records. In March, four athletes represented Pitt at the 2018 NCAA Championships.
In Christian’s first campaign with the Panthers in 2016-17, as Pitt’s entirely new coaching staff implemented a new training regime, five student-athletes competed for Pitt at the NCAA Championships, including All-Americans Dominic Giordano and Lina Rathsack.
Prior to joining Hargis’ staff at Pitt in the summer of 2016, Christian spent the previous six seasons as an assistant coach at his graduate degree alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, where he worked with both the men’s and women’s programs.
Christian helped guide the Penn Quakers to one of their most historic seasons in 2015-16, fueled by a program-high six Ivy League titles. The men’s squad tallied the most points in school history (1213.5) at the conference championships. In addition, Chris Swanson swept the Ivy distance events and became Penn swimming's first NCAA champion, winning the 1,650-yard freestyle. Additionally at Penn, Christian worked closely with Eric Schultz, a multiple Ivy League champion and two-time NCAA qualifier.
During his time at Penn, Christian also worked extensively with U.S. National Team athlete Brendan McHugh and was named U.S. National Team Coach in 2015 and 2016 for his efforts. Under Christian’s watch, McHugh broke the U.S. Open record in the 50-meter breaststroke, qualified for the 2015 World Championship team, achieved a top-10 world ranking and was a 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials finalist.
Before going to Penn, Christian served as a graduate assistant swimming coach at the University of Delaware. As a member of the Blue Hens staff, he helped coach 25 All-CAA swimmers, four CAA champions and seven NCAA "B" provisional qualifiers. Nine team records and one CAA record were also broken during his time at Delaware.
Christian enjoyed a successful four-year collegiate swimming career of his own at Kenyon College. He was a three-time NCAA qualifier and nine-time All-America honoree for the Division III school. Christian was also a member of three NCAA championship teams and captured five NCAA relay titles. During his senior year, he placed eighth at the NCAA Championships in the 50-yard freestyle. Additionally, he swam on NCAA champion 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relay teams, which helped Kenyon win its 29th consecutive NCAA team championship.
A native of Rehoboth, Mass., Christian graduated from Kenyon College with degrees in political science and history and was president of the Student-Athlete Association. He received his master's degree in higher education from Penn in the summer of 2012 and also earned his doctorate in higher education from Penn’s Graduate School of Education.
Dr. Christian and his wife, Melissa, have a son, Connor.
Beyond the Bio
Favorite Place on Pitt's Campus
The top of the Cathedral of Learning looking over the entire campus.
Favorite Quote
“Champions are made from something they have deep inside them, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina; they have to be a little faster; they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.” – Muhammad Ali
Hobbies Outside of Work
I'm an avid mountain biker.
Favorite Aspect of Working for Pitt Athletics
I love working with professional colleagues who are committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure the success of our student-athletes
