WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Longtime Purdue diving coach Adam Soldati was announced as one of three finalists nationally for the National Collegiate & Scholastic Trophy, an award recognized as the highest honor in intercollegiate and interscholastic swimming & diving.
The National Collegiate & Scholastic Trophy is awarded in unison by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) and National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA). The annual honor is awarded to an individual who has made "the greatest contribution to swimming and diving as a competitive sport, and as a healthful, recreational activity in the province of undergraduate and scholastic education."
Soldati is joined as finalists by Cyndi Gallagher, the head coach of UCLA women's swimming & diving for 31 years and Tracy Huth, a former head coach and athletics director at Oakland University. The winner will be selected by CSCAA member coaches and recognized at the annual CSCAA College Swimming & Diving Awards on May 5 at the organization's annual meetings in Raleigh, N.C.
Soldati, who was hired at Purdue in the spring of 2005, transitioned from head coach to director of diving in June after five Boilermakers qualified for the Olympic Games. He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in February 2024 and passed the torch as the leader of the Purdue Divers to Olympic champion David Boudia in the spring after informing the students-athletes of the diagnosis on April 1 following the conclusion of the NCAA season. Boudia had come aboard as a full-time assistant coach in July 2021 and Soldati had been grooming his protégé to officially succeed him as head coach.
Led by Boudia's six NCAA titles, Soldati's divers won 14 national titles at the NCAA Championships. Four times, the Boilermakers accounted for three of the eight qualifiers for the championship final of platform diving at the national championship meet. The men accomplished the feat in 2011 and 2015 and the women did it in 2021 and 2024.
Soldati was recognized as the national Coach of the Year by the CSCAA five times – 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2017. Boudia (2009-11) and five-time NCAA champion Steele Johnson (2015, 2017) were recognized as the national Diver of the Year all five seasons. Casey Matthew (2013), Brandon Loschiavo (2021) and Tyler Downs (2022) also won NCAA titles under Soldati's guidance. Johnson, Loschiavo and Downs are all among the program's Olympians and Matthews joined Boudia among the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame.
Soldati was selected among the 100 Greatest Coaches of the last 100 years as part of the CSCAA's centennial celebration during the 2021-22 season.
Dick Papenguth, a member of the Purdue and International Swimming Halls of Fame, was the 1965 recipient of the National Collegiate & Scholastic Trophy. Papenguth served as the coach of Purdue Swimming & Diving from 1939-69 and coached Team USA's women's swimmers at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. The National Collegiate & Scholastic Trophy was first awarded in 1959.
The CSCAA has previously recognized Purdue Swimming alumni Morgan Burke and Dan Ross. As the Boilermakers' longtime athletics director, Burke was the CSCAA's Charles McCaffree Award recipient in 2017. Ross retired in the spring of 2023 after 38 seasons as head coach of the Purdue men. He was the CSCAA's Richard E. Steadman Award recipient in 2022.
The National Collegiate & Scholastic Trophy is awarded in unison by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) and National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA). The annual honor is awarded to an individual who has made "the greatest contribution to swimming and diving as a competitive sport, and as a healthful, recreational activity in the province of undergraduate and scholastic education."
Soldati is joined as finalists by Cyndi Gallagher, the head coach of UCLA women's swimming & diving for 31 years and Tracy Huth, a former head coach and athletics director at Oakland University. The winner will be selected by CSCAA member coaches and recognized at the annual CSCAA College Swimming & Diving Awards on May 5 at the organization's annual meetings in Raleigh, N.C.
Soldati, who was hired at Purdue in the spring of 2005, transitioned from head coach to director of diving in June after five Boilermakers qualified for the Olympic Games. He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in February 2024 and passed the torch as the leader of the Purdue Divers to Olympic champion David Boudia in the spring after informing the students-athletes of the diagnosis on April 1 following the conclusion of the NCAA season. Boudia had come aboard as a full-time assistant coach in July 2021 and Soldati had been grooming his protégé to officially succeed him as head coach.
Led by Boudia's six NCAA titles, Soldati's divers won 14 national titles at the NCAA Championships. Four times, the Boilermakers accounted for three of the eight qualifiers for the championship final of platform diving at the national championship meet. The men accomplished the feat in 2011 and 2015 and the women did it in 2021 and 2024.
Soldati was recognized as the national Coach of the Year by the CSCAA five times – 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2017. Boudia (2009-11) and five-time NCAA champion Steele Johnson (2015, 2017) were recognized as the national Diver of the Year all five seasons. Casey Matthew (2013), Brandon Loschiavo (2021) and Tyler Downs (2022) also won NCAA titles under Soldati's guidance. Johnson, Loschiavo and Downs are all among the program's Olympians and Matthews joined Boudia among the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame.
Soldati was selected among the 100 Greatest Coaches of the last 100 years as part of the CSCAA's centennial celebration during the 2021-22 season.
Dick Papenguth, a member of the Purdue and International Swimming Halls of Fame, was the 1965 recipient of the National Collegiate & Scholastic Trophy. Papenguth served as the coach of Purdue Swimming & Diving from 1939-69 and coached Team USA's women's swimmers at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. The National Collegiate & Scholastic Trophy was first awarded in 1959.
The CSCAA has previously recognized Purdue Swimming alumni Morgan Burke and Dan Ross. As the Boilermakers' longtime athletics director, Burke was the CSCAA's Charles McCaffree Award recipient in 2017. Ross retired in the spring of 2023 after 38 seasons as head coach of the Purdue men. He was the CSCAA's Richard E. Steadman Award recipient in 2022.