Kara Battistoni - Assistant Coach - Women's Swimming & Diving Coaches

Kara Battistoni

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
Kqb24@drexel.edu

Kara Battistoni enters her fifth season on the Drexel swimming and diving coaching staff after joining the program in the fall of 2018 as an assistant coach.

In the 2019-20 season, the women's team posted a historic 5-0-1 record. It was the first time that the Dragons went undefeated in program history. During the CAA Championship, Alexa Kutch won the 100 back and 200 back. It marked a conference record as Kutch won gold in both events all four years. Kutch was then selected for Drexel's prestigious Mary Semanik Award. Gabrielle Rudy was named the most outstanding swimmer after four golds and one silver at the CAA Championships.

The men’s and women’s programs found success in Battistoni’s first season. In all, 17 different student-athletes collected 40 All-CAA nods. As a team, the men posted a 4-1 record, won the Thomas Murphy Invitational and took second place at the CAA Championships for the fourth-consecutive year. At the same time, the women’s team went 5-1 and placed fourth at the conference championships, one spot higher than the year prior.

Three men – Jason Arthur in the 200 back, Patrick Cobb in the 500 free and Anthony Musciano in the 1-meter dive – claimed gold medals at the 2019 CAA Championships, and Paris Raptis was recognized as the conference’s rookie swimmer of the year. The women’s team captured two relays, the 200 medley and 400 medley, and Alexa Kutch won gold in both the 100 back and 200 back. Kutch also hit a 2020 Olympic Trial cut time in the 100-meter back at the AT&T Winter National Championships.

The Dragons were successful in the classroom as well in 2018-19. Both men’s and women’s teams received CSCAA Scholar All-America distinctions. Individually, Kutch, Arthur and Cobb were all selected to Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area teams.
Additionally, the men’s team received the NCAA APR public recognition award in 2019 for posting a multiyear APR in the top-10 percent of their respective sport.

Prior to her arrival to University City, Battistoni earned her bachelor's in fine arts from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., where she was named to the Dean’s List multiple times and was invited to present her work at events held by the Rutgers Entrepreneurial Society. While earning her degree, she was a scholarship recipient and four-year member of the women’s varsity swimming and diving team. Battistoni helped the 2006 Rutgers women’s team rank 12th nationally, was a two-time Big East Champion Competitor and was selected to the Big East All-Academic Team multiple years in a row.

From 2016-2017, Battistoni served as the assistant coach at Butler University. She helped the Bulldogs to a successful season overall and brought in the most competitive incoming freshman class in recent history.

Before Butler, Battistoni was the Director of Operations for Rutgers women’s swimming and diving from 2014 to 2016. She was also the Interim Assistant Coach during a transition period. During this time, she also coached for Scarlet Aquatic Club and did personal training at Apollon Gym.

Battistoni, a native of Providence, R.I., has a strong strength and conditioning background and currently holds a CSCS certification. She served as a coach for Seacoast Swimming Association from 2011-2014 where she had the opportunity to coach every age group. In 2014, she was also named Head Strength & Conditioning Coach. Her dryland program design, which focused on functional strength, mobility, and injury prevention, helped Seacoast rank in the top-four percent of 2700 registered USA swim teams.