Eric Bugby was named Cal State Bakersfield's Director of Swimming in Summer of 2025. He is in his first season leading the Roadrunners heading into Fall of 2025.
Bugby joined CSUB after winning three Coach of the Year awards and four conference championships over six seasons as the Head Coach at Niagara University in New York. Under Bugby's leadership, the combined men's and women's program experienced an impressive turnaround that resulted in his teams rising from the bottom of the conference standings to multiple team championships in the last four years.
With nearly two decades of coaching experience, Bugby brought a winning perspective to Bakersfield. At each previous stop, Bugby produced success by recruiting staff and student-athletes who bought into being part of a team, not just on a team. Wrapping up his time at Niagara, Bugby was named the 2025 MAAC Coach of the Year as his men's and women's squads swept the conference Championships.
In total, the Purple Eagles notched over 400 program Top 10 performances, 71 pool records, 38 MAAC titles (18 relay, 20 individual), 14 MAAC records, and two NCAA B-Cuts during Bugby's tenure. He took the Niagara women's team from a seventh-place standing in the conference to three MAAC crowns in the past four seasons. On the men's side, the Purple Eagles went from ninth to first, winning the program's first conference title since 1994.
Bugby also has experience as the Associate Head Coach at Lehigh University, an Assistant Coach for the University of Denver, and the Associate Head Coach for the United States Military Academy (Army West Point).
A former collegiate student-athlete himself, Bugby knows what it takes to develop student-athletes into Champions in the pool and in life. From his first coaching gig as a graduate assistant coach at Arizona State to present day, Bugby has proved his ability to produce conference Champions, NCAA All-Americans, Olympic Trialists, and World Championships Qualifiers.
