October 6, 2009
Lessard Named to ASCA Awards of Excellence List

CHESTERTOWN, MD - Washington College head men's and women's swim coach Kim Lessard has been named to the 2009 American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Awards of Excellence List. The ASCA annually recognizes those coaches who have guided a swimmer to a top-eight finish at one of several USA national-level championships. Included in those national-level championships is the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships, at which Lessard coached Rachel Glasser (Silver Spring, MD/Springbrook) to a bonze medal in the 200 butterfly.

Glasser, who was just a sophomore last season, enjoyed a banner year under Lessard's tutelage. She was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the Centennial Conference Championships after collecting three individual gold medals, two relay gold medals, one relay silver medal, and one relay bronze medal. In all seven of those events, Glasser broke or helped break school records, including swimming the butterfly leg of the Centennial Conference record-setting 200 medley relay. At the 2009 NCAA Division III Championships, Glasser earned All-America status by finishing third in the 200 butterfly in 2:03.13, one one-thousandth of a second off her own school record.

Under Lessard, the Shorewomen finished the 2008-09 season with a 10-4 overall record, extending their non-conference dual-meet win streak to 53 in the process. The Shorewomen collected a total of seven gold medals at the 2009 Centennial Conference Championships, the most of any conference school.

Lessard has racked up 169 dual-meet wins (against only 62 losses) in 19 seasons as the Shorewomen's head coach. She has recorded another 110 dual-meet wins (against 78 losses and one tie) in 18 seasons as the school's men's head coach. Lessard has coached Washington College swimmers to 21 All-America or All-America honorable mention performances at the NCAA Division III Championships.

Both of Lessard's Washington College swim teams are routinely awarded Team Scholar All-American status by the College Swimming Coaches Association. To qualify for the award, the team must finish with a team grade-point average of at least 3.0 for the spring semester.

Lessard was inducted into Washington College's Hall of Fame on October 6, 2006. She was just the third Washington College head coach to receive that honor while still coaching at the school.