Phil Hurley enters his seventh season at Saint Francis in 2025-26. He has coached two NEC Champions, and 10 times a swimmer has earned All-NEC first-team (2) or second-team (8) honors. The Red Flash has finished in the Top 4 twice in his tenure.
The Red Flash finished third at the NEC Championships in 2024-25, its best finish since placing third in 2018-19. Aurem Pifarre Planes was named to the All-NEC first team after winning the 1650 free and to the All-NEC second team after placing second in the 500 free. It was the first gold medal for Saint Francis since 2021. Maura Rubio joined her on the second team after finishing second in the 100 back.
Sara Turner finished second in the 2023-24 NEC Championships in the 400 IM, and the 200-free relay team also placed second to earn All-NEC second-team distinctions. Turner (200 fly) and Nicole Lopez Kohlmann (400 IM) finished second at the 2022-23 league championships to earn All-NEC second team honors.
Millie Laudenbach became the first swimmer under Hurley to win a race when she won the 200 back at the 2020-21 NEC Championships in his second season at the helm. Lopez Kohlmann earned second-team distinction after placing second in the 200 IM. Laudenbach (200 back) and Sabrina Bowman (200 IM) were the first swimmers to earn NEC accolades with All-NEC second team honors. The Red Flash finished fourth in his first championships at the helm.
With over 15 total years of collegiate coaching experience, Hurley came to Saint Francis after spending the last two seasons as the head coach of the Lock Haven University swimming program.
In his first season as head coach of the Bald Eagles, Hurley sent seven swimmers to the PSAC Championships, including five who qualified for individual events. At the PSAC Championships, every swimmer who dove into the pool set their personal best time. The relay teams improved their best times by a jaw-dropping 20-30 seconds. Each individual swimmer also crushed personal records by around three to four seconds each.
Previously, Hurley was a men’s and women’s swimming & diving assistant coach at South Dakota State University. He played an important role in helping the South Dakota State athletic department and the men’s and women’s swimming & diving programs transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I.
Although he was personally responsible for the distance and sprint programs at South Dakota State, Hurley worked with and coached all training groups and strokes. He coached numerous Summit League individual champions and helped numerous student-athletes reach NCAA DI “B” cut standards.
While at SDSU, Hurley also served as the program’s recruiting coordinator. In that role, he nearly doubled the team’s roster size.
Under the guidance of Hurley, the men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams also excelled in the classroom. The men’s team earned 10 consecutive Scholar Team Awards, and the women achieved a team GPA of 3.0 or higher for every semester Hurley was on campus.
Prior to his time at South Dakota State, Hurley was a two-year graduate assistant coach at Division I George Mason University.
A native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Hurley graduated from Dickinson College in 1998 (B.A., economics). He earned his master’s in exercise, fitness, and health promotion from George Mason in 2006. Following his graduation from Dickinson, Hurley was an officer in the United States Army.
As a member of the Dickinson College swimming team, Hurley was a four-year letter-winner, three-year team captain, All-Conference performer, and former school record holder.
