One of the longest tenured coaches on The Yard, Joe Suriano begins his 30th season as Navy's diving coach.

Under his tutelage, nine divers on Navy's men's team and two divers on the women's team have qualified for a combined 21 NCAA Division I Championship meets. All told, his divers have earned 15 Division I All-America accolades, won 24 Patriot League or Colonial Athletic Association titles and 17 Eastern Swimming League crowns.

Suriano himself was named as the 1991 Division II Coach of the Year after Stacia Johnson captured the NCAA title, as well as the Patriot League Coach of the Year three times -- most recently, last year -- and the EWSL Coach of the Year in 1997.

Suriano earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan in 1970 and a master's degree from Eastern Michigan in 1978. Prior to coaching at Navy, he served as the diving coach at Eastern Michigan (1971-72) and Vanderbilt (1973-78).

Suriano was named an International Olympic Committee diving expert in 1985 and conducted a 21-day clinic for 30 diving coaches in New Delhi, India. In 1994, he was named an official and an assistant diving coach for U.S. Diving at the Dive Canada International Championships. He served as an official in 1995 at the World University Games in Fukouka, Japan, and at the World Military Games in Rome, Italy. He also served as a diving coach at two U.S. Diving National Training Camps and was named to the 1995-96 U.S. Diving national coaching staff. Suriano directed the American diving team at the 1999 World Military Games in Zagreb, Croatia, then completed a term as the chairman of the NCAA Swimming and Diving Rules Sub-Committee in the fall of 2001.