Belowich Named to CSCAA Class of 2026 Division III Hall of Fame

(NORFOLK, Va.) - Former Carnegie Mellon University men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach Dr. David Belowich was honored by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) this week when it announced 21 members in the Class of 2026 for the Division III Hall of Fame.

The Class of 2026 is the third class for the Hall, founded in 2024. It recognizes outstanding coaches, athletes and officials at the Division III level.

Belowich’s 24-year collegiate coaching career included 11 years at Carnegie Mellon where he was named the 2004 NCAA Division III Men’s Coach of the Year following the program’s third-place finish at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships. 

As leader of the Tartans, Belowich coached six national champions and mentored the men’s program to five consecutive top eight finishes on the national stage (third in 2004, fourth in 2003 and 2002, sixth in 2005, and eighth in 2001). He coached 23 men to 53 individual All-America honors and 31 relay teams to All-America finishes. His 2005 women’s team placed 25th at the national meet and his coaching tenure included six women earning 17 All-America honors across six events. In addition to his national coach of the year award in 2004, Belowich and his staff were named the University Athletic Association (UAA) Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year four times.

Prior to his tenure at Carnegie Mellon, Belowich coached 13 years at the Division I level at the University of South Florida and the University of Pittsburgh where he coached numerous All-Americans and helped put Susan Heon on the 1984 Olympic Team in the 400 IM.

Belowich earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Grove City College in 1972, his master’s in biology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1974, and his Ph.D. in exercise physiology from Florida State University in 1981.