Robert "Bob" Saunders (1994) - Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame

Robert "Bob" Saunders

Induction:
1994

When Marshall decided to create a men’s swimming program in 1968, it placed the program in the hands Dr. Bob Saunders, a HPER professor at the University. Saunders remained the head coach for the duration of the program, which was discontinued in 1988. Early in his tenure as a head coach, Saunders built a recruiting pipeline to the state of Florida, a move that paid great dividends as Marshall would go on to win five consecutive Southern Conference team championships between 1978 and 1982, dominating the competition and the league record book and honors. The Southern Conference dropped swimming as a sport in 1983 and while Marshall tried to continue as an independent program, the sport was eliminated five years later. Five of Saunders’ swimmers are inducted in the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame. Saunders was honored with the Marshall University Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1990. He was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.