During the four-day meet, the men won 11 conference titles, while the women were victorious in three events. The women set 12 new school records during the course of the meet, and the men broke six school records Feb. 10-13 at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif.
At the end of the meet, the men's team collected 1,362.5 points for a second-place finish, higher than the previous best of 1,101.5 points for a third place finish in 2007. Meanwhile, the women accumulated 987.5 points to finish in third place this year, almost 200 points more than the previous best conference performance of 808 points in 2005 that landed the team in seventh place.
Mallery credits the collaborative coaching model that he employs, giving his assistant coaches the autonomy to teach using their skills. Assistant coach Kat Cuevas, graduate assistant coach Henry Hudson, and student assistant coach Doug Djang helped Mallery guide the team to the performance level they showed at the conference championships.
"Within the collaborative coaching model, I have the responsibility for all that the head coaching position includes, but I give my assistant coaches the freedom to bring their skills and unique contributions to the training environment. I believe that the collective contributions offered more global opportunities for our swimmers to improve," Mallery said.
Now in his 13th season as the only head coach the Seattle University swimming program has employed, Mallery adds these accolades to many others that he has earned over the years. In only the second year of the program, he earned NAIA National Men's Swim Coach of the Year after leading the team to a third place finish at the NAIA Championships, followed by a NAIA National Women's Swim Coach of the Year honor in 2000 when the women finished third at the national meet.
In 2002, Mallery guided the men's team to the NAIA National Championship and the women's team to a second-place finish at the same meet. He then led the program to the NCAA Division II level, always qualifying at least one swimmer for the NCAA Division II National Championships from 2003 to 2008. Now he has transformed the program again into one that is competitive at the Division I level and is working to have a squad ready to qualify for the Division I Championships when the program becomes eligible in 2012-13.
Mallery has coached three individual national champions: Elliott Kolbe winning the NAIA title in the 200 meter breaststroke in 2002, Chris Coley earning the NCAA Division II national title in the 100 yard butterfly in 2006, and Jakub Jiracek completing an extraordinary career with a victory in the 200 yard breaststroke at the 2008 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships.
The Seattle University swim teams will look to build on their performances moving into the 2010-11 season. Out of 42 active student-athletes, just six swimmers are leaving due to graduation, giving Mallery an experienced squad to work with next year.