Phil Baretela enters his seventh season as the head swimming and diving coach at RIT in 2024-25. Last season, Baretela led the men's team to its third straight Liberty League title, while five Tigers qualified for the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships. During Baretela’s tenure RIT swimmers have broken 33 of the 38 school swimming records.
2023-2024
Junior swimmer Anna Peshenko qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships for the third straight season, earning Honorable Mention All-American honors in the 200 breaststroke. She won three individual titles at the Liberty League Championships, earning Liberty League Swimmer of the Year accolades for the third time.
First-year diver Maddi Williams finished ninth in the 1-meter diving finals to earn Honorable Mention All-American honors at the 2024 NCAA Division III Championships, while first-year Luke Albanese earned Honorable Mention All-American honors with a 12th place finish in the 3-meter diving finals at the NCAA’s.
Junior diver Gellert Kish was named the Liberty League Diver of the Year for the second straight season and finished seventh in the 1-meter diving final to earn All-American honors at the 2024 NCAA Division III Championships.
Senior Drew Scheib finished 13th in the 200 butterfly and 14th in the 100 butterfly to earn Honorable Mention All-American honors at NCAAs. His time in the 100 butterfly was a new school and Liberty League Association record.
Baretela and diving coach Cliff Devries and assistant Phoebe Huey were named the 2023-24 Liberty League Men's Coaching Staff of the Year.
Both teams were named College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association (CSCAA) Team Academic All-Americans for the seventh straight season in 2023-24. On the women’s side, Peshenko and Williams were First Team CSCAA Scholar All-Americans, while first-year Gwen Petrie was a second team selection. Kish and Scheib were First Team CSCAA Scholar All-Americans, while seniors Mike Atanasoff and Neko Ferrara and junior Ben Sippel were Second Team picks.
2022-2023
The RIT men’s team won their second consecutive Liberty League team title.
Sophomore swimmer Anna Peshenko qualified for the NCAA Division III championships for the second season. She won the 400 IM, 100 and 200 breaststrokes at the Liberty League Championships, earning Liberty League Co-Swimmer of the Year.
Third year swimmer Mike Atanasoff won the 50 free and 100 butterfly at the Liberty League Championships, both in Liberty League Championship and Association record times and was named Liberty League Swimmer of the Year. Atanasoff went on to compete at the NCAA Division III Championships. Third year swimmer Drew Scheib set a Liberty League Association record in the 200 butterfly and placed 7th at the NCAA Championships to earn All-American status.
Second year diver Gellert Kish was selected as the Liberty League Diver of the Year. Both Kish and Neko Ferrara qualified and competed at the NCAA Diving Regional Meet.
Baretela and diving coach Cliff Devries and assistant Phoebe Huey were named the 2022-23 Liberty League Men's Coaching Staff of the Year.
Both teams were named College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association (CSCAA) Team Academic All-Americans for the sixth straight season in 2022-2023. On the women’s side, Peshenko was a First Team CSCAA Scholar All-American, while fourth-year Sam Russell was a second team selection. Scheib was a First Team CSCAA Scholar All-American, while Brendan Kapp, Gellert Kish, Alex Pecze and Miles Lim were Second Team picks.
2021-2022
Baretela led the men's team to the 2021-22 Liberty League title for the first time in program history.
First year swimmer Anna Peshenko qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship and was named the Liberty League Swimmer of the Year after winning the 400 IM, 100 and 200 breaststrokes at the Liberty League Championships. Senior Phoebe Huey broke the school record in the 50-yard freestyle at the Liberty League Championship, while KhaVy Sangasy broke Huey's record the following day.
First year diver Gellert Kish was named the Liberty League Diver of the Year, while he and classmate Neko Ferrara competed at the NCAA Diving Regional. Junior Brendan Kapp set Liberty League Association records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and broke the school records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 100 and 200 IM. The men's team set new school records in all five relays and set Liberty League Association records in the 200 and 400 medley relays. Other record breakers included Drew Scheib (100 backstroke, 200 butterfly), Alex Pecze (200 backstroke) and Aidan Daudier (200 freestyle, 400 IM). Scheib set Liberty League Championship meet records in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly and a Liberty League Association record in the 100 butterfly.
Baretela and diving coach Cliff Devries and assistant Emily Lederman were named the 2021-22 Liberty League Men's and Women's Coaching Staff of the Year.
Both teams were named CSCAA Team Academic All-Americans for the fourth straight season in 2021-22. Peshenko was a First Team Scholastic All-American and Scheib and Kapp were second team selections.
2019-2020
Baretela led the women to a 10-0 record in dual meets, while the men were 8-1 in 2019-20. Baretela and his coaching staff were named Liberty League Men's Swimming Coaching Staff of the Year. Both the men and women's teams won the Don Richards Invitational. KhaVy Sangasy was an All-American selection in the 100-yd. and 200-yd. breaststroke, and was named Liberty League Rookie of the Year. Under his tutelage, the men set school records in all five relays, the 200-yd. butterfly, the 100 and 200-yd. breaststroke, the 100 and 200-yd. backstroke and the 200-yd. IM. The women set records in the 200-yd. breaststroke and the 200-yd. freestyle relay.
Baretela, diving coach Cliff Devries and assistant coach Stephanie Ryan were named Liberty League Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year.
Both teams were named CSCAA Team Academic All-Americans for the second straight year.
2018-2019
It was a memorable first season for Baretela, leading the women’s team to a perfect 10-0 record in dual meets, while the men posted six wins. The women placed second at the Liberty League Championship.
Senior swimmer Sedera Zbranak capped off her swimming career placing 2nd at the 2019 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships to earn All-America honors. Sedera earned Honorable Mention All-America honors with at 12th place finish in the 100 butterfly. Sedera was joined by Amy Adams, Olivia Phillips and Alicia Shenal at the NCAA meet with the four of them competing in relay events. Adams was also a competitor in the 100 breaststroke.
Baretela, diving coach Cliff Devries and assistant coach Stephanie Ryan were named Liberty League Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year.
Both teams were named CSCAA Team Academic All-Americans. Adams, Phillips and Zbranak were First Team CSCAA Scholar All-Americans.
Â
Prior to taking the head coaching reigns, Baretela served 12 years as an assistant coach working extensively with the sprint group. He helped the sprinters set numerous school and conference records, and mentored 2011 RIT Sports Hall of Fame inductee Erik Zelbacher, who earned several All-American honors in 2006.
Prior to joining the staff at RIT, Baretela coached for five years at Monroe Community College where he was a member of the staff that saw swimmers earn six individual NJCAA National titles. During his time at MCC Baretela was mentored by Head Coach Daniel Dubois, who is now joining RIT as our Assistant Coach, after retiring from Monroe in 2022.
From 2010-2016 Coach Baretela was the head coach and program director for the Golden Comets Swim Club, a USA Swimming affiliated team. During this time, he was able to develop several of the top swimmers in Western New York and gained valuable experience in swimming traveling throughout the United States and overseas. He has coached athletes who have set New York State High School records and achieved time standards to compete in USA Swimming's Olympic Trials, Senior and Junior National events.
Baretela is 1994 graduate of SUNY Cortland, earning his degree in Criminology. Baretela was a standout sprinter for the Red Dragons, helping the Red Dragons to the 1993 SUNYAC championship.
Baretela retired from the Monroe County Sherriff Office where he served as a deputy sheriff for 21 years. He lives in Chili with his wife Holly and their family, including his daughter, Kathryn, who is attending RIT and is a member of the RIT Softball team.
Â
Â
