Hollie Bonewit-Cron enters her eighth year as the head coach of Miami Swimming and Diving in 2023-24. The 23-year coaching veteran has been a head coach for 14 seasons and is a four-time winner of the Mid-American Conference’s Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year Award (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023).
During Bonewit-Cron’s time in Oxford, the RedHawks have enjoyed a great deal of success, highlighted by four men's MAC championships in the past five seasons. The Miami men have won three straight titles (2021-23) for the first time in program history after claiming the 2023 championship in Oxford.
In 2019, Bonewit-Cron became the first female head coach in conference history to lead a men’s team to a conference championship, as the RedHawk men captured 10 events at the league meet. The RedHawk women have improved from fourth place in Bonewit-Cron’s first four seasons to post top-three team finishes at the MAC meet each of the past three years.
On the men's side, at least 10 RedHawks have qualified for All-MAC honors in each of Bonewit-Cron’s last five seasons in Oxford, highlighted by 14 selections in 2019. The Miami women's team has produced multiple All-MAC performers in every season under Bonewit-Cron, including six honorees last year. Diver Pei Lin earned All-American honors in three different seasons (2016, 2017, 2018) after Bonewit-Cron took over, including three recognitions in 3-meter and two more in 1-meter. The RedHawks’ most recent female standout swimmer, Nicole Maier, became an All-American (winning the 400 IM consolation final) and was recognized as MAC Co-Swimmer of the Year in 2023 after winning MAC Freshman Swimmer of the Year in 2021.
Other Mid-American Conference recognitions for Miami's program during Bonewit-Cron’s tenure include two more MAC Swimmer of the Year awards (Iago Moussalem in 2019, Henju Duvenhage in 2021) and five MAC Diver of the Year awards (Lin in 2016, 2017, and 2018, Harrison Moncino in 2019 and Jackson Miller in 2022). Duvenhage was named Freshman Swimmer of the Year in 2021, Barr was co-Senior Swimmer of the Year that same season, Lin was named MAC Senior Diver of the Year in 2018, and Izzy Herb won Freshman Swimmer of the Year in 2017. The RedHawks have also produced three MAC Freshman Diver of the Year honorees in the last four seasons: Karsten Dixon in 2020, Jackson Miller in 2022 and Sydney Rice in 2023.
The RedHawks have continued to excel in the classroom, as evidenced by Bonewit-Cron’s 218 Academic All-MAC honorees and 34 MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes. Miami has also consistently produced College Swimming & Diving Scholar All-America student-athletes and teams under Bonewit-Cron’s leadership. Most recently, Nicole Maier (2022 first team) and Madeline Padavic (2022 second team) became the latest RedHawks to be recognized by the CSCAA. Miami’s women have been honored by the CSCAA in every semester since Bonewit-Cron’s arrival and the RedHawk men in every semester but one. In 2022-23, eight Miami swimmers were named Academic All-District by College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA).
Bonewit-Cron came to Miami after a seven-year stint guiding the Nova Southeastern men's and women's teams, a program she built from the ground up since its first season of competition in 2010-11. Bonewit-Cron was inducted into the Nova Southeastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022. After joining the NSU staff in 2009, she quickly developed the Shark program into a powerhouse with the men's team finishing fourth at the 2016 NCAA Division II National Championships. She also was named the Head Olympic Swim Coach for the country of Grenada where she coached NSU standout Esau Simpson to a new Grenadian National record at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
During her tenure with the Sharks, Bonewit-Cron received two Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year honors, won four SSC Championships and amassed 12 NCAA Championships from six individual NCAA Champions.
In the program's six years of NCAA competition, Bonewit-Cron helped NSU garner 61 SSC Championship titles, 66 All-America honors and 85 All-America Honorable Mentions. Under Bonewit-Cron's tutelage, four swimmers were named SSC Swimmer of the Year, three received SSC Freshman of the Year honors and four were named the SSC Swimmer of the Meet. Additionally, 33 student-athletes were named to the All-SSC First Team and 22 were named to the All-SSC Second Team.
Under Bonewit-Cron’s direction, NSU produced 41 Scholar All-Americans and Honorable Mention Scholar All-Americans with seven swimmers boasting CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 At-Large Team accolades. The Sharks also received Team Scholar All-America honors nine times.
Bonewit-Cron previously spent one year as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Miami prior to her time at NSU where she was primarily responsible for overseeing and planning of the daily training regimen of the breaststroke group. She was also certified as an Infant Swimming Resource instructor.
Before her time with the Hurricanes, she spent the bulk of her coaching career (2002-2008) as the assistant men's and women's swim coach at the University of Florida. She assisted in coaching and overseeing a wealth of success for the Gators, including 12 NCAA Division I Individual Champions, 50 Southeastern Conference Champions, 198 All-American honors for the women, 222 All-American honors for the men, and five Olympians in two Olympics for a total of 4 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals.
Bonewit-Cron launched her collegiate coaching career at Georgia Southern University in 2000 as an assistant women's swim coach. She was later promoted to interim head coach, overseeing 28 female swimmers until assuming the position at Florida.
A decorated collegiate swimmer, Bonewit-Cron is no stranger to the Mid-American Conference. She was a three-time First-Team All-MAC selection at Ohio University, swimming for the Bobcats from 1996-00. As a senior, she earned NCAA Division I All-America honors in the 200-meter breaststroke and won six individual MAC titles, leading Ohio to a MAC team title while also becoming a senior national qualifier for the third straight year.
During her four-year career at Ohio, Bonewit-Cron was a 17-time MAC champion. She captured three consecutive titles in the 200- and 400-yard medley relay, the 400- and 800-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard individual medley as well as back-to-back titles in the 200-yard breaststroke. Bonewit-Cron set school records in the 400-yard individual medley and MAC records in the 200-yard breaststroke, 400-yard freestyle relay, and the 200- and 400-yard medley relays.
She collected MAC Swimmer of the Meet honors after her junior season in 1999, seizing six MAC titles at the meet. In 2000, she also was an Olympic Trials qualifier in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke as well as the 400-yard individual medley.
Bonewit-Cron also was named Ohio's Female Athlete of the Year in 2000 and was later inducted to the Kermit Blosser Ohio Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. She was inducted into the Nova Southeastern University Athletics Hall of Fame as part of its 2021 class.
Bonewit-Cron earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Ohio University in 2000 and a master's degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in sport psychology from Georgia Southern University in 2002. She and her husband, Chad, have two daughters, Evalyn and Emersyn, and a son, Easton.
The Bonewit-Cron File
2009-16 -- Nova Southeastern University (Head Men's and Women's Swimming Coach)
2008-09 -- University of Miami (Volunteer Assistant Coach)
2002-08 -- University of Florida (Assistant Men's and Women's Swim Coach)
2000-02 -- Georgia Southern University (Women's Swimming Assistant Coach/Interim Head)
Bonewit-Cron By The Numbers (prior to Miami)
151 All-America Honors won by NSU swimmers
66 First-Team All-America awards captured by NSU swimmers
61 Sunshine State Conference Championship titles won by NSU swimmers
55 Athletes earning All-SSC honors
41 Scholar All-Americans
33 Athletes garnering First-Team All-SSC distinction
12 combined individual national championships won by 6 athletes
9 Team Scholar All-America honors
7 CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 At-Large Team honorees
6 NCAA Championship appearances in as many years
4 Sunshine State Conference Championships
4 Sunshine State Conference Swimmer of the Meet recipients
3 Sunshine State Conference Swimmers of the Year
3 Sunshine State Conference Freshmen of the Year
2 Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year honors
