Ron Farina enters his 13th season as head coach of the Seton Hall men's and women's swimming and diving teams and is coming off one of the most successful seasons of his tenure. Last year Seton Hall saw more than 85 percent of its swimmers qualify for BIG EAST Championship competition. The women re-wrote five school records while the men broke two, and posted a 9-2 dual meet record.

Each program also took home a 12th consecutive CSCAA Team Scholar All-America Award, with the men ranking 12th in the entire nation in team GPA. The Pirates also produced 32 BIG EAST Academic All-Stars, pushing its total to 264 under Farina's guidance.

In 2010-11, senior Kevin Webster became the first student-athlete in program history to compete at the NCAA Championships. Farina also coached the men's team to a sixth-place showing at the BIG EAST Championship, the highest in program history, while the women's team came in ninth, its best finish since 2005.

Webster also became the first swimmer in school history to be named Most Outstanding Male Swimmer at the BIG EAST Championships after winning the 400-yard individual medley and 200-yard backstroke conference titles.

Webster is not the only Pirate to capture a BIG EAST title under Farina as Jack Leavitt (2005,100-Backstroke) also accomplished the feat.

Since his hiring, Farina has brought a new level of commitment to the Pirate programs. Since the 2000-01 season, Farina's swimmers have earned wins against BIG EAST rivals Georgetown, Rutgers, Syracuse, Providence and Villanova, recorded 15 NCAA consideration standards, over 40 Senior National qualifiers, three Olympic Trial qualifiers, and shattered over 50 school records. In 2008-09 he traveled to Atlanta with eight members of the men's team to compete in the USA Swimming Short Course Nationals in which his Pirates broke six school records, a conference record, and placed eighth overall ahead of Big Ten power-house Indiana.

Farina's student-athletes have also performed well in the classroom, highlighted by 36 BIG EAST Academic All-Stars a year ago continuing the increasing trend from previous years. In 2005-06, Matt Miklius was named the Seton Hall Scholar Athlete of the Year, as was Matt Geiger in 2007-08. Finally, two athletes were named to the CoSida Academic All-District II Squad, with one earning ESPN the Magazine/CoSida Academic All-America honors.

Farina, the fifth coach in the history of the Seton Hall program, served as an assistant coach at both Rutgers University and Virginia Tech University and also founded the Liner Aquatics Club.

A 1993 Rutgers graduate, Farina was a six-time school record holder for the Scarlet Knights and later worked for four years as an assistant coach for his alma mater following graduation. During his time at Rutgers, Farina helped coach the men's team to a second-place finish in the Atlantic-10 in 1994 as well as nine athletes to NCAA consideration standards and Senior National time cuts.

Following his tenure at Rutgers, Farina went to Virginia Tech were he served as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator during the 1997-98 season. During Farina's time at Virginia Tech he served as the primary coach for the sprinters and mid-distance freestylers while helping lead the Virginia Tech women's teamto a second-place finish in the Atlantic-10 Conference. In addition, Farina coached seven athletes to NCAAconsideration and Senior National standards. Later, as founder of the Liner Aquatics Club in Phillipsburg, NJ, Farina was in charge of all aspects of the USA Swimming organization, including administration, coaching, and training swimmers of all ages.

At Rutgers, Farina set school records in the 100, 200, and 500-yard freestyle, the 200, 400, and 800-yard freestyle relay, and was a senior national qualifier from 1991-93 in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle. Farina graduated in 1993 with a multiple degree in English, history, and political science. He received a Masters Degree in Sports Management from East Stroudsburg University in 2003.

Ron and his wife Amy currently reside in Easton, Pa. They have a daughter, Gianna, born March 19, 2002 and a son RJ, born February 26, 2004.