Head coach Peter Ward is entering his 24th year at George Mason with the 2022-23 season. Ward was hired in 1998 to build and develop the Patriots' swimming and diving program, which was preparing for its debut in the 1999-2000 season. Ward has posted a 103-93 women’s record and a 108-74 men’s record during his time at George Mason for an overall women’s record of 133-95 and a men’s overall record of 128-84 in his career.
During the 2020-21 season the Patriots competed in three team events, including the Atlantic 10 Championships, in a season limited by Covid-19. The Patriots' men's team finished second at the 2021 A-10 Championships, while the women's team finished sixth. Senior Marina Toone was named A-10 Most Outstanding Women's Diver after winning the Atlantic 10 Championship in the three-meter and a silver medal in the one-meter event. Senior Drake Moretz recorded five top-three performances during the season and was selected to the A-10 Academic All-Conference Team. Mason had 12 student-athletes selected to the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) All-State Team. Toone was named VaSID Women's Diver of the Year, freshman Hailey Fisher was named VaSID Women's Co-Rookie Diver of the Year, and freshman Ian Castegnaro was named VaSID Men's Rookie Diver of the Year.
In 2019-20, Ward guided the Patriots' men's team to the 2020 Atlantic 10 Championship, the first title in program history. Ward was named Atlantic 10 Men's Head Coach of the Year. The Mason men's team finished the season with a 7-2 overall record during the regular season, while the women's team finished with a mark of 2-9.
In the classroom, a total of 35 student-athletes on the Mason 2019-20 swimming and diving teams, 18 on the women's team and 17 on the men's team, earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll.
In 2018-19, Ward led the Mason men’s team to a 7-1 overall record, including a mark of 4-0 against Atlantic 10 opponents. The Mason women’s team finished the season with an overall record of 8-2, including a 5-1 record against conference opponents. He entered the 2019-20 season one victory shy of 100 on the men's side and two wins shy of 100 on the women's side as head coach of the Patriots.
Ward guided the Mason men’s team to a second-place finish for the second straight year, while the Patriots' women’s team placed sixth at the 2019 Atlantic 10 Championships held at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
Four members of the Mason men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were selected to the Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference Team. Senior Michael Pettinichi and juniors Ryan Donnelly and Attila Kiss earned the honor on the men’s side, while sophomore Shannon Glesing was selected from the women’s team.
The Patriots also had four student-athletes named Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) All-State Second Team. Sophomore diver Marina Toone earned the honor on the women’s team, while Donnelly, junior Gerald Hodges, Jr. and sophomore Dylan Peck were selected from the men’s team.
During the 2017-18 season, Ward guided the Mason men's team to an overall record of 8-1, including a 4-0 mark against Atlantic 10 opponents. The Mason women's team finished with an overall record of 6-6, including a 2-4 record against conference opponents.
Ward led the Mason men's team to a second place finish and the women's team to a seventh place finish at the 2018 Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
Ward was named 2018 Atlantic 10 Co-Men's Swimming Coach of the Year.
Ward guided the Patriots through their first season in the Atlantic 10 in 2013-14 with success, as the men's team placed third and the women fourth at A-10 Championships. Daniel Camozzo, Melissa Davis and Fernando Rubio finished the season as individual conference champions. The men's team earned a 6-4 record while the women finished 5-4. Both squads placed first at the inaugural Patriot Invitational for the first time in program history, the men earning their first ever top finish at the event and the women their second.
2012-13 saw the men's team finish with a 7-3 dual record and a third place finish at CAA Championships while the women ended the season 5-6 with an eighth place finish at CAA Championships. Paige Impink and Fernando Rubio each claimed individual conference titles while 10 students earned CAA acolades for their performance at CAA Championships.
Ward led the men to a 5-6 dual meet record and a third consecutive second place finish at the CAA Championships while the women posted a 2-9-1 record and finished seventh at the championships in the 2011-2012 season. Ward mentored many Patriots to CAA honors throughout the year, including Derrick Butts the CAA Diver of the Year and Ashley Danner the CAA Female Swimmer of the Year. The Patriots also had representation in the U.S. Nationals meet and the Olympic Trials.
From the 2001-02 through the 2004-05 season, Ward coached the women to consecutive CAA league titles. He coached the men to consecutive runner-up finishes in the conference meet from 2010-2012 for a total of seven runner-up finishes. Ward was named CAA Men’s Coach of the Year in 2003 and was Co-Coach of the Year in 2005. Additionally, Ward was named CAA Co-Women’s Coach of the year in 2003.
Mason had one of its most successful seasons in 2004-05. He coached both squads to flawless conference dual meet records of 7-0 and the women finished with an 8-2 overall record while the men finished with an 8-1 mark. The women took home their fourth consecutive conference title and the men finished second at the CAA Championships. Ward was named CAA Co-Men’s Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. Numerous Patriots also received various CAA honors.
Since the 2003-2004 season Mason has taken home at least one of the major CAA awards following the championship through the 2012 season. Ward has guided several athletes to CAA Swimmer of the Year, Swimmer of the Meet, Diver of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors.
Ward has coached 34 All-America athletes, including six-time honoree in Danner who earned All-American honors in the 100 and 200 Breastroke this past season. Prior to Danner, Tom Koucheravy received honorable mention in the 1,650 free during the 2008-09 season. Lauren Stinnett (2001-02) became the first Mason Swimming and Diving athlete to attain the accolade. He has also coached a total of 103 CAA champions, 18 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) champions, 15 Olympic Trial qualifiers, two SEC title winners and one Southwest Conference champion.
Before arriving at Mason, Ward was the swimming head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). In three seasons there, he compiled a 30-2 women's record - including back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1995-96 (9-0) and 1996-97 (8-0) - and a 20-10 mark with the men. His benchmark season at IUP occurred in 1997-98, when the women's team finished seventh and the men's team finished 11th at the NCAA Division II Championships.
The IUP women's team placed second at the PSAC meet in each of Ward's three years as head coach, and he was honored as both PSAC Coach of the Year and Coach of the Meet in 1998. The IUP men's team went 11-1 that same season and finished second at the PSAC Championships.
A native of Toronto, Ontario, Ward began his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater, the University of Arkansas. He worked as the assistant swim coach from 1991-95, and he was responsible for the distance and middle-distance swimmers. During his time there, three Razorback swimmers he coached won conference championships.
As a competitive athlete, Ward was a four-year letterwinner for Arkansas and the 1986-87 Razorback team captain, but his success wasn't limited to just the collegiate ranks. A world-class swimmer, Ward was a member of the Canadian National Swimming Team from 1979-88. He placed seventh in the 200 butterfly at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles and was a silver medalist at the 1987 Pan American Games. Ward held the Canadian national record in the 200-meter butterfly from 1981-84 and was the Canadian champion in that event in 1981, 1984 and 1986.
Ward, who is a member of both the American Swimming Coaches Association and the College Swimming Coaches Association of America, has been involved with Special Olympics and also assisted with the Washington D.C.-area bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
He has two daughters, Rebecca and Rachel.
