BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) looks back at the outstanding athletes, referees and coaches who have made Hall of Fame caliber marks on the league.
A 2009 inductee to the CWPA Hall of Fame and a four-time collegiate All-America selection, Diane Stein Swigart of Slippery Rock University was a standout collegiate and international goalie.
She established the record for most blocks in the first Collegiate National Championship, a non-NCAA sanctioned event, in 1980 and was named to the All-Tournament Team. In addition, she was named to eight All-Tournament teams in five years, an achievement due to the fact she never played water polo prior to college.
Outside of her collegiate career, she was a three-time (1979, 1980, 1982) AAU All-America selection in the USA Water Polo National Outdoor Championships, where she played for both Industry Hills and City of Commerce in California.
A standout international player, she was named to the United States National Team in 1979, she competed at the World Cup Tournament in Merced, California.
She maintained her involvement on the international level with the team in 1980 and traveled to the 1982 World Cup Tournament in Ecuador helping the United States “A” team earn a bronze medal.
Following college, she continued to compete and later led the East squad to a second place finish at the 1984 Olympic Sports Festival.
A native of Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania and a 1977 graduate of Valley High School, she was inducted into the Allegheny-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.
