Player Bio: Bill Roberts - NAVY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Bill Roberts

	Hometown: Aurora, N.Y.
	Position: Head Coach (6th Year)
	Alma Mater: Springfield '92

Two-time Patriot League coach of the year Bill Roberts begins his sixth season as the head coach of the Navy men's swimming program this fall, as well as his ninth year at the Naval Academy.

Roberts garnered the league accolade following the 2004 and `05 league meets. The Mids won the Patriot League crown in both of those two seasons, as well as in each of the ensuing three seasons to bring their streak to five titles in five attempts under Roberts.

Individually at the championship, Navy has totaled 42 individual and relay event titles at the Patriot League Championship during this time, more than twice as many as the next best program in the league.

The Mids have also enjoyed great success during the regular season under Roberts. After posting an 8-9 record during his initial season, Navy has totaled double digit wins in each of the last four seasons, including a 15-2 record during the 2007-08 campaign. Navy has tallied a 47-17 record over the last four seasons and is 55-26 overall under Roberts.

With the success of the overall program, Navy also has consistently qualified individual athletes for national meets under Roberts. The program returned to the NCAA Championship Meet for the first time in nearly a decade during his inaugural season of 2004, with four swimmers competing in a combined six individual events at the national meet -- which included Noah White's `A' cut time in the 50 free -- and earning a pair of Honorable Mention All-America certificates in two relay events.

Additionally during the Roberts era, Navy swimmers have annually taken part in such national meets as the World Championship Trials, the ConocoPhillips National Championship and the USA Swimming Spring Championship. A trio of current or former Navy swimmers qualified for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, as well, with current junior Adam Meyer placing 17th in the 200 fly and 19th in the 200 IM.

Success also has been achieved by the men's swimming and diving team in the classroom under Roberts. A total of 54 Mids have earned Patriot League Academic Honor Roll accolades over the last five years, and the team has a whole has been regularly recognized as an Academic All-America Team by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.

"The goal of our program is to provide an environment that will allow every team member to reach their potential academically, athletically and personally," states Roberts. "We want to be the premier service academy for those interested in swimming and diving in college. Additionally, it is our expectation that we will annually compete for a conference championship while sending athletes to the NCAA and Olympic Trial meets."

Roberts first arrived at Navy during the summer of 1997 when he joined Lee Lawrence's coaching staff as an assistant coach. In three seasons together, the Lawrence-Roberts duo guided Navy to a 27-10 record, including an 18-9 mark in the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League. Roberts coached Navy's 200 freestyle relay team that won the 1999 EISL title, and helped develop sprinter Clint Cornell into a 2000 Olympic Trials appearance and to the 2001 EISL 50-yard freestyle title.

A 1992 graduate of Springfield College, where he was a four-year letterwinner and served as team captain for two seasons, Roberts began his coaching career upon graduation as the head coach of the women's team at Wells College in his hometown of Aurora, N.Y. After two seasons at Wells, he served as a graduate assistant coach at East Carolina, during which time he earned a master's degree in athletic administration. In the summer of 1996, he joined the Villanova program for one year before coming to the Naval Academy.

Roberts left Navy in 2000 to become the head coach at Colgate, during which time his men's and women's teams combined to post a three-year record of 39-36. Roberts and his wife, Nicole, have three sons -- Will, age nine; Nick, age seven; and Jackson, age five.