UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State swimming and diving head coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron has hired Mike Smiechowski as Associate Coach.
Smiechowski served as head coach at St. Bonaventure from 2022-26. He helped the women’s team to tie its highest team finish at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships since 2017-18 and guided the Atlantic 10’s only program (men or women) to improve its team score four consecutive years at the A-10 championships. He mentored Anna Forjan, who was the 2026 A10 Women’s Swimmer of the Year runner-up after posting 57 points at the conference championships and winning individual titles in the 100 Back and 200 Free.
On the men’s side, St. Bonaventure was the 2025 Atlantic 10 runner-up, its highest finish since the 2016 season. He guided Aidan Kreiley to a 100 Breaststroke conference title in 2025. The program earned three consecutive top-three finishes from 2024-26. At the 2023 championships, the men’s team set lifetime best times in 77% of its races and Alex Behr set a conference record in the 200 Butterfly. Dhav Mendoza earned the A10 Diver of the Year honor in 2026.
While with the Bonnies, Smiechowski mentored 28 A-10 individual medalists and oversaw 30 program records. Smiechowski coached four St. Bonaventure department athletes of the year (Max Murray in 2023, Silvana Cabrera in 2024, Alex Behr/Halle Myers in 2025). Behr was a 2024 Academic All-American, one of three coached by Smiechowski at SBU.
He also oversaw the Bonnies qualifying for the CSCAA All-Academic Team every semester at SBU.
Prior to his time at St. Bonaventure, he served as head coach at Alfred State College from 2019-22.
He was the 2022 Men’s AMCC Coach of the Year, 2022 AMCC/E8 Combined Coach of the Year and the 2020 Men’s and Women’s AMCC Coach of the Year.
He led Alfred State College to an AMCC/E8 men’s conference championship in 2022, AMCC men’s conference title in 2022 and AMCC women’s championship in 2020. All three were the first in school history.
He mentored 32 individual AMCC champions, 10 combined AMCC/E8 conference champions and helped is athletes to set 45 program records and six conference records.
Smiechowski led the 2020 men’s team to an undefeated regular season (7-0), the first in school history.
He served as assistant swim coach and men’s recruiting coordinator at Towson (2014-15) and Villanova (2013-14).
From 2018-19, he also coached the Sint Maarten/Saint Martin National Swim Team. He trained the first ever Sint Martin athlete to participate in a world championship event (2018 World Championships).
He graduated from UNC Wilmington with his bachelor’s degree in criminology in 2012. At UNCW, he helped the team to four-consecutive CAA championships and served as a team captain. Smiechowski earned his masters of education in higher education from Iowa State (2013).