Perhaps St. Bonaventure's most decorated coach of all-time in any sport, Sean McNamee helped create and maintain a powerhouse in the pool for Bonnies men's swimming. Over his 26-year coaching tenure, McNamee guided the Bonnies to five Atlantic 10 Conference championships and 15 runner-up finishes.
He was named the A-10 Coach of the Year six times, a record for the department, and 74 of his swimmers won gold medals at the A-10 championship meet while four of those earned A-10 Performer of the Meet honors. In addition, McNamee coached the Bonnies to a third-place finish or better in 23 of his 26 seasons at the helm with 40 A-10 Academic All-Conference selections, eight All-Atlantic 10 Rookie performers and four A-10 Most Outstanding performers.
McNamee carried on the storied legacy of his family name at St. Bonaventure. His father, John, and brother, Kevin, are both Hall of Fame members. John was the founder of the Bonnies men's swimming program while Kevin inherited the reins before Sean's historic tenure.Â
A native of Olean, McNamee graduated from St. Bonaventure in 1986. He began his coaching career at West Virginia University as a graduate assistant, then became the head coach at Potsdam before returning to St. Bonaventure as head coach in 1992. He replaced his brother Kevin, who left to become an administrator at George Mason University.
He retired from his coaching position in 2018 and transitioned to an administration role as Bona's Associate Athletic Director for Major Gifts.
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