Mark Bernardino has been at the helm of the Virginia men’s and women’s swimming teams for 30 seasons. In that time, he has lead the men’s team to 10 Atlantic Coast Conference titles and the women’s team to five ACC championships. This year, for the fifth time in his career, Bernardino and his teams achieved a double victory at the ACCs. C-VILLE spoke with Bernardino before he took off for last weekend’s NCAA championship meet, where the Cavalier women finished 20th and the men came in 15th.—Serene Aandahl
 UVA swimming Head Coach Mark Bernardino’s motto: “Focus is critical, failure is not an option.” |
C-VILLE: What was the highlight for you this year?
Mark Bernardino: Double victories at the ACCs and the looks on the faces of the athletes when they realized they had performed at levels they had never swum before and won the championships.
Is there anything specific you did this year to bring about the double victories?
I felt that before we could be a championship team, we had to build the character that other championship teams at UVA had—which had seemed to be lacking in the last couple seasons. We did vigorous dry-land training last spring, which really emphasized team togetherness and character building. That training carried over into the summer and fall, and I think we were a much tighter team because of that.
How do you motivate your athletes?
I motivate different people different ways. Some athletes have to be treated tough as nails, and others I motivate with being as gentle and as kind, compassionate and warm as I have to be.
How would you describe the relationship between you and this year’s captains Mike Miller, Stephanie Glover and Jessica Lewis?
They’re very open, they communicate well. They have the team’s best interest at heart, they are very good at sensing the morale of the team and how the team is feeling during training. They know that the door is open if they need to talk about any issue.
Have you always had such an open forum of communication with your players?
No. Over the course of the last decade that’s something I have worked really hard to improve upon. The athletes that I coached in the ’70s and the ’80s, even the ’90s, are significantly different than the athletes I’m coaching today. There’s a lot more give and take between a coach and athlete now than there was early in my coaching career.
C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.
