July 23, 2002
VILLANOVA, PA. - Legendary Villanova swim coach Ed Geisz passed away on Sunday, July 21, at 5:00 p.m. at his home in Cape May, N.J. Geisz served as the head coach of the Wildcat men's swimming team for 37 years from 1953 until he retired following the 1988-89 campaign.
The viewing for Geisz will take place on Friday, July 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Villanova Chapel on the campus of Villanova University. The funeral mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday morning at the Villanova Chapel.
Geisz came to Villanova College in 1953 to direct the intramural department following a successful collegiate swimming career at La Salle College. It was during that same year when he proposed that a men's swimming program be revived at the school. The Villanova men's swimming program had been cancelled during World War II and had yet to be returned until Geisz's efforts in 1953.
In his first season at the helm of the Wildcats, Geisz's squad posted a 1-2 record. The `Cats were 4-2 in 1954, and with the exception of his first season one year earlier, Geisz's team always had a winning record. This tremendous feat allowed him to reach a milestone few collegiate coaches had reached before him - the 300-win plateau. It was on January 12, 1989 in a 166-77 dual meet win over Delaware that Geisz earned his 300th victory. He would go on to record an incredible 308-167-4 dual meet record during his career.
Directing 18 of his swimmers to NCAA All-America status on 46 occasions in either individual or relay events, Geisz helped his student-athletes to achieve national and international fame over the years. Three of his former team captains - Tom Aretz, Olaf Von Schilling and John Fitzgerald - made Olympic teams. Aretz and Von Schilling represented West Germany in the 1972 Olympiad, while Fitzgerald was a member of the United States team for the modern pentathlon in 1968, 1972 and 1976.
Another of Geisz's former swimmers, Dick McDonough, remains Villanova's only male NCAA swimming champion, as he won the 200 yard butterfly at the 1963 NCAA Championships. Three of his swimmers posted world record times under his tutelage, including McDonough in the 100 yard freestyle, Jack Geoghegan in the 100 yard freestyle in 1965, and Rick Girdler in the 200 yard butterfly in 1963.
In 1985, Geisz saw one of his most important dreams come true when construction was completed on the Villanova Swimming Center. Through his efforts, an ultra-modern swimming facility he had at one time only dreamed of became a reality.
A well respected figure in the collegiate coaching ranks, Geisz has earned a number of honors and awards throughout his career. He received the 15, 25 and 30 year service awards from the College Swimming Coaches Association, and went on to receive a lifetime membership by the CSCA in 1989. He also received the Masters Coach Award and the Distinguished Coach Award from that group and in 1987 was a finalist for the National Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming Trophy.
For his accomplishments as a swimmer and coach, Geisz was inducted into the Pennsylvania Swimming Hall of Fame in 1973, the Villanova Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1975, and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1987, he was the Villanova Varsity Club Man of the Year and one year later was named the National Catholic Collegiate Championships Coach of the Year. In 1989, he was named the Big East Conference Coach of the Year along with the Eastern Regional Coach of the Year.
In addition to his collegiate legacy, Geisz re-established Villanova as the home of the National Catholic Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships in 1953.
