Bio

Former All-America swimmer, coach and Ohio Wesleyan University Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Sue Pressler enters her 11th year as an academic advisor for student-athletes in 2021-22. The 2021-22 academic year also marks her first as the Associate Director of Student-Athlete Advising.

Pressler, who also served as a volunteer assistant coach with the Bryant men’s and women’s swimming teams in 2011-12, is far from a stranger to Bryant University, the Bulldog Athletic Department or Division I athletics.

In addition to her work with the swimming programs, she has also worked as the Bryant Bulldog Classic Lacrosse Tournament administrator over the past three years, as well as running all Presslax Xtreme lacrosse camps in Smithfield and across the country for husband and Bryant head men’s lacrosse coach Mike Pressler.

Beyond her previous work at Bryant, Pressler brings extensive experience across a gamut of collegiate venues, including the realms of both athletics and academics.

A four-year All-American at the University of Michigan from 1978-82, Pressler captained her team as a senior, setting numerous Wolverine records across her career. A Big Ten champion and conference record holder as well, she participated in the 1980 Olympic Swimming Trials and was a female athlete of the year finalist at Michigan in 1982.

Following her career in the pool, Pressler started an illustrious career on the pool decks, spending the next eight years as the head men’s and women’s swimming coach at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. During her tenure with the Battling Bishops (1983-1991), Pressler quickly turned both programs into North Coast Athletic Conference powerhouses, coaching 16 All-Americans and eight future Hall of Famers. Of the records her swimmers set, 13 remain intact as of 2010.

Her athletes weren’t the only ones rewarded for their efforts, either. Pressler was named the NCAC Women’s Swim Coach of the Year three times (1985, 1986, 1988) and earned the Men’s Swim Coach of the Year accolade in 1990. Pressler was inducted into the Ohio Wesleyan Athletic Hall of Fame herself in 2007.

Out of the pool, Pressler was a tenured professor of physical education at Ohio Wesleyan as well as an academic advisor. She developed and implemented faculty fitness testing and the Exercise Prescription Program in 1987 and ran it until her departure in 1991.

Following her time at OWU, Pressler spent 16 years in Durham, N.C., at Duke University, where she again had influence in both the academic and athletic realms of the college. Pressler worked in the Duke Admissions Office as a first reader of undergraduate applications from 1991-99, also serving as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Blue Devil men’s and women’s swimming programs from 1991-98.

Pressler also worked as the administrator of all Duke University lacrosse camps throughout her time in Durham (1991-2006) and was a volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House of Durham from 1998-2006.

A graduate of the University of Michigan, Pressler earned her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology in 1982 and remained in Ann Arbor, where she received her Master’s in Exercise Physiology from Michigan’s Rackham Graduate School in 1983.

In 1989, Pressler earned her certification as a Clinical Exercise Specialist (ACSM-CES) through the American College of Sports Medicine, and she also holds certifications in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, CPR, as a Water Safety Instructor Trainer and as a Lifeguard Instructor Trainer. Pressler is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Swimming Coaches Association and U.S. Swimming.

Pressler and her husband, Mike, currently reside in Smithfield, R.I. The Presslers have two daughters, Maggie and Janet.