Tim Verge is in his 27th season as the head coach of the Shippensburg University men’s and women’s swimming teams.
Verge has established and maintained a culture of outstanding athletic and academic excellence in his programs. During his tenure, more than 65 All-America honors have been achieved and 22 university records have been broken.
With the exception of the 2009-10 academic year in which he served as Shippensburg University’s acting assistant director of athletics, Verge has been the lead instructor for his alma mater’s swimming programs since the 1998-99 season.
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Verge has directed Shippensburg University Swimming to prominence at both the conference level and the national level. In Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) competition, Verge has coached 15 women’s teams to a Top 5 finish at the conference meet, including four Top 3 finishes, and nine men’s teams to a Top 4 finish at the conference meet, including five Top 3 finishes.
Swimmers have also translated their conference success to the NCAA Division II National Championships under Verge’s direction. He has coached seven All-America First Team swimmers on the women’s side, including 17-time All-America honoree Erin Goodhart ’04. Overall, Verge has coached more than 25 NCAA women’s championship qualifiers, including seven relays that earned All-America honorable mention during a four-year span from 2009-12.
Three men’s swimmers have reached prominence at the NCAA Championships under Verge’s direction, including All-America honorable mention recognition for Mike Owen and John Hughes.
Most recently, Gabriella Johnson was named an All-American in 2020 and Stephanie O’Toole earned All-America First Team honors in 2018 with a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard IM.
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At the PSAC Championships, Verge has been an instructor for more than 20 PSAC individual championships, including freestyle titles for Goodhart and Julie Brown, IM titles for O’Toole, breaststroke titles for Johnson, and a butterfly title for Erin Fife.
He has also coached multiple PSAC relay championships, including a 2012-13 women’s title in the 800-yard freestyle relay that ended a 10-year streak of titles by either West Chester or Clarion.
Verge is a three-time PSAC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year. This past season, Verge was named the 2021 PSAC Men’s Coach of the Year after directing the Raiders to a second-place finish at the PSAC Championships – the team's best result at the conference meet in 12 years. SU totaled 12 All-PSAC (Top 3) individual finishes and four All-PSAC relays, with three swimmers (JC Greenwood, Matt Bochanski, Michael Salvatori) winning individual titles.
Previously, Verge earned the honor in 2008-09 after guiding the Raider program to a second-place finish at the conference championships – which was SU’s best result at a PSAC meet in 13 seasons. He also earned the award in 2006-07 after guiding a team that achieved eight All-PSAC performances and placed third at the conference meet. Among his swimmers in 2006-07 was Owen, who set a PSAC meet record with a conference title in the 1,000-yard freestyle and was named the 2006 PSAC Championships Meet MVP after winning titles in the 200, 500 and 1,000-yard freestyle.
Numerous school records have fallen under his watch at the PSAC Championships over the years, including long-standing women’s freestyle marks and the first new men’s school records to be set in 18 years.
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Academic success has been a trademark of Verge’s coaching tenure. Shippensburg University women’s swimming has been a nationally-ranked academic program by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) for 43 of the 44 semesters that Verge has coached the Raiders.
In June of 2009, the women’s swimming team affirmed that excellence in the classroom by posting the highest spring grade-point average (GPA) in all of NCAA Division II. SU Women’s Swimming has consistently been among the top teams on campus in terms of GPA, most recently leading all Raider academic teams in the Fall 2020 semester with a 3.665 GPA.
Verge’s men’s swimming teams have also won multiple Academic Team Champion awards for its success in the classroom at Shippensburg. Most recently, the Raiders won both the Fall 2019 men’s award (3.264 team GPA) and the Spring 2019 men’s award (3.140 team GPA).
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Verge’s head coaching career began at Ashland University. In his three seasons directing the Eagles (1995-96 – 1997-98), Verge coached more than 20 individuals who combined to win more than 60 All-America honors, including two national champions – David Kalange (200-yard butterfly in 1996) and Jamie McDaniel (50-yard freestyle in 1997, 50 and 100-yard freestyle in 1998).
Of the national champions that Verge mentored, McDaniel is the first woman to go sub-23 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle at the NCAA Division II Swimming Championships. She broke two national records and was named the 1998 NCAA Division II Women’s Swimmer of the Year.
Ashland posted three Top 10 finishes during his tenure – the men were fourth in 1996, while the women were seventh in 1997 and ninth in 1998. Twenty school records were broken during Verge’s three years with the Eagles, and the men’s team won the 1998 GLIAC Championship.
Before arriving at Ashland, Verge was an assistant coach for one season at Arizona State (1994-95). In his lone season on staff, the Sun Devils placed 12th at the NCAA Division I Championship. Verge coached Beata Kaszuba, the first woman to break 60 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke (59.71 in 1995) and had four swimmers qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Overall, Verge has 33 years of collegiate coaching experience. He started as an assistant coach at Edinboro University, serving for three seasons (1989-90 – 1991-92). The Fighting Scots posted three straight Top 20 finishes at the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships while Verge was on staff. He then coached two seasons at Northern Arizona (1992-93 – 1993-94), helping the Lumberjacks win both the men’s and women’s team titles at the 1994 Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) Swimming Championships.
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A member of the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) and the CSCAA, Verge served as the meet director for the NCAA Division II Swimming Championships hosted by Ashland University in 1998. He is also a past recipient of the ASCA Certificate of Excellence and is an ASCA Level 5 coach, the highest level possible.
Verge swam collegiately at Shippensburg from 1986-89, serving as a senior co-captain in 1988-89 when the Raiders placed fourth at the NCAA Division II Championships – the highest team finish in school history.
He earned his bachelor of arts in psychology from Shippensburg in 1989 and his M.Ed. in counseling with emphasis in college student personnel from Northern Arizona in 1996.
Verge and his wife, Staci, live in Shippensburg, where Verge served as a long-time volunteer firefighter with the Vigilant Hose Company.
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Verge’s Coaching Tenure
- 1998-99 – 2008-09; 2010-11 – present (26 seasons): Head Coach, Shippensburg Men’s & Women’s Swimming
- 1995-96 – 1997-98 (3 seasons): Head Coach, Ashland Men’s & Women’s Swimming
- 1994-95 (1 season): Assistant Coach, Arizona State Men’s & Women’s Swimming
- 1992-93 – 1993-94 (2 seasons): Assistant Coach, Northern Arizona Men’s & Women’s Swimming
- 1989-90 – 1991-92 (3 seasons): Assistant Coach, Edinboro University
NCAA First Team All-Americans (Shippensburg)
- Gabriella Johnson (2020, 100 and 200-yard breaststroke)
- Stephanie O’Toole (2018, 200 IM)
- Julie Brown (2013, 50 free)
- Erin Goodhart (2001-04; 200 free, 500 free, 1,000 free, 1,650 free)
- Kim Magnanelli (2001-04, 200 back)
- Kellie Brady (1999, 50 free)
- Lyndi Croft (1999, 200 breast)
NCAA Men’s National Championships Qualifiers (Shippensburg)
- John Hughes (1999-01, honorable mention All-America)
- Mike Owen (2006, honorable mention All-America)
- Jason Enders (2003)
Verge’s Coaching Accomplishments (Shippensburg)
- 67 NCAA All-America (First Team + Honorable Mention) Classifications
- 18 PSAC individual champions
- 2 PSAC relay champions
- 2-Time PSAC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year (2006-07, 2008-09)
- CSCAA Scholar All-America classifications in every season
