When Mark Sowa was hired as the University of Idaho swim coach in 2011, he commended the athletic department for revitalizing the program, which had been dormant for 22 years before it was reinstated in 2004.  Now he looks to take that same vision and create a new tradition of excellence with the Vandal Aquatic Club.

During the 2013-14 season, Sowa’s team was one of the best that the program has seen since it was reinstated. The team placed second and won eight of the events at the WAC meet, the most in program history. The team also scored in every event at the WAC meet, a first in program history.  Additionally, the Vandals had the sole representative at the NCAA championships.

In addition to the WAC meet success, the team broke 14 school records throughout the season, seven individuals, four relays and all three diving events. Sowa also coached the WAC Swimmer of the Year.

At the 2012-13 Western Athletic Conference meet, Sowa’s team had its best finish (a fourth) with three individuals – coming away with four individual titles. Not only did the Vandals earn the Diver of the Year award, but the team also won the 3-meter event, 200 IM, 200 freestyle and the 200 butterfly.

All told in 2012-13, the Vandals broke 12 school records – six individual, three relays, and all three diving disciplines. They wound up No. 25 in the mid-major poll at season’s end.

In Sowa’s first year as a Vandal, the team also broke 12 school records, won three meets and were ranked as high as 25th in the country among mid-major programs.  They claimed seventh place in the University of Houston Cougar Classic and were named to the Scholar All America Team by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. 

Idaho is not the first program time Sowa guided to immediate success at a college program. Sowa led the Wagner College program to many milestones in his three seasons as the head coach. Sowa's swimmers set 23 school records, two conference records, earned 12 All-NEC honors and the program's first NEC Swimmer of the Year award. Sowa also coached the program's first NCAA provisional qualifier.

Wagner owned a combined 15-15 overall record and went 10-4 in the Northeast Conference under Sowa, finishing in the top three in the NEC Championship meet all three seasons, including a second-place finish in 2008-09. Sowa's student-athletes excelled outside of the pool as well, as his swimmers combined for 37 NEC All-Academic honors in his three years.

Before taking over at Wagner, Sowa spent the previous 10 years building his coaching resume. From 2007-08 he was the assistant men's swim coach at Harvard University. Before that he was the Head Coach of the Barracuda Swim Club in Nassau, Bahamas from 2005-07 where he won the Bahamas National Swimming Championship. Sowa was the assistant then interim head coach at Maryland from 2004-05 after stints as an assistant at the University of Richmond and Brown University from 1999-2004.

Coach Sowa also has extensive club coaching experience having worked with such clubs as the Bay and Ocean State Squid, NOVA of Virginia, and Nassau Bahamas' Barracuda Swim Club.  He has also worked with athletes of all levels at the Brown University, Harvard University, University of Richmond, Wagner College, University of Tennessee and Nike Swim Camps.

Sowa graduated from The American University with his bachelor's degree in History and Philosophy in 1998 before earning his master's degree in American History from Brown University in 1999.

Coach Dan's bio is coming soon!

Emma is a member of the Class of 2024 and of the UI Women's Swim & Dive team. She started swimming at the age of 8 with the Fort Collins Area Swim Team (FAST) in Fort Collins, Colorado. Her favorite thing to do outside the pool is to hang out with friends and to spend time outside skiing, boating, and hammocking.

Jayden's bio coming soon!

Hi, I'm Haylee Buyers! My family currently lives in Eagle, Idaho, but I've moved a few times prior to that. I am going to be a junior at the University of Idaho with a double major in Sociology and Criminology and a minor in business. I have recently found a love for coaching kids and being able to be around such positive and free spirited athletes gives me one more reason to love this sport so much. A personal motto that I try to live by is to "do things with a smile on your face and a song in your heart", told by one of my coaches in the past. 

Mia Goodwin began her competitive swimming career at the Boise Y Swim Team at age 6. During her 17-year swimming career, she became an all-around athlete and swam a wide range of events - from the 100 breaststroke all the way up to the mile.

Mia swam for the University of Idaho (2013-2017) and was captain her senior year. She graduated in 2017 with a degree in Public Relations and Marketing. Mia joined the Vandal Aquatic Club as a coach in 2018. She also coaches the Moscow Chinooks Masters team. 

Mia continues to swim, and trains for open-water swims and triathlons. You can find her trail running and biking on Moscow Mountain, fly fishing and skiing throughout the PNW, or hanging around town. 

Rylie started swimming when she was around 5 or 6 years old. As a member of the UI Women's Swim & Dive team that would make this her 14th year of competitive swimming. She swam for the Del Norte Swim Club in Sacramento, CA and then switched around age 14 to begin year-round for the Sierra Marlins Swim Team in Folsom, CA through high school. Rylie plans to graduate in 2023 from the University of Idaho with a degree in Exercise Science - Fitness and Health Performance. Outside of the pool, she enjoys hanging with friends and binge-watching movies/tv shows. Her favorite personal motto is "Every day is a second chance." :)

Shelly Ruspakka returns to coaching after spending the better part of the last decade as a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist.  During and after her successful swimming career at Northern Michigan University where she was a multiple NCAA Division II All-American, conference champion, scholar-athlete, and team captain, Coach Ruspakka spent several years coaching youth and masters teams witihin the region.  Ruspakka is also a certified yoga instructor and has been Head Coach of the Moscow Chinooks Masters Swimming Team since 2014 with a two-year maternity hiatus. 

Shelly lives in Moscow with her husband, Dr. Peter Remien, Professor of English at Lewis-Clark State College and two children, Viren and Aila. She graduated from Northern Michigan University, summa cum laude, in 2004 with a degree in Technical Communications and a minor in Public Relations.

Jake grew up in the Spokane area swimming for Spokane Area Swimming. He has attended and swam at both Seattle University and Whitworth University, earning a B.A. in Mathematics and a Masters in Teaching. Currently, Jake also works as a substitute teacher in the Spokane area.