Matt Ense - Women's Swimming & Diving Coach - Bowling Green State University Athletics

Matt Ense

Title:
Head Swimming & Diving Coach

The 2017-18 season marks the third year of Matt Ense’s tenure as Bowling Green State University swimming and diving head coach. Ense has led the Falcons to third- and sixth-place finishes at the MAC Championships in his first two seasons and has transformed the roster with a multitude of young talent that has laid the groundwork for future success.

During the 2016-17 season, Ense led a team that broke new ground as the program continues to build. Freshman Talisa Lemke earned MAC Freshman Diver of the Year honors, earned a spot at the NCAA Diving Zones, and broke two BGSU school records in her first season on campus. Under Ense’s leadership, Lemke set new standards in the one-meter (293.15) and three-meter (323.15) events. She finished fourth at the MAC Championships in both events and in the top 20 at the NCAA Diving Zones for both (15th, 1-meter; 18th, 3-meter). She was also named second-team All MAC.

Junior Natalie Criswell also set two school records for Ense during the 2016-17 season. Both occurred during the 1650 free race at the 2017 MAC Championships. She finished third in the race with a new record time of 16:31.89 and set a new 1000 free record at BGSU in the process (10:00.15). Criswell won the 1000 free three times during the regular season and placed in the top three in six of seven starts. She also placed sixth at the MACs in the 500 free.

Ense led the Falcons to a 6-6 dual meet record and a 2-2 mark in the MAC during the 2016-17 campaign. The Falcons defeated arch-rival Toledo at home 196-95 and won individual duals at Xavier, Ball State, and Youngstown State. BGSU also swept a double-dual meet in Washington, D.C. against Georgetown and George Washington. Bowling Green completed the season with a sixth-place finish at the MACs. Academically, a total of 17 Falcons were named Academic All-MAC, and six of those were recognized as MAC Distinguished Scholar Athletes.

In his first season at BGSU, Ense’s athletes successfully broke ten school records and produced two MAC champions. The Falcons also produced an NCAA qualifier for just the sixth time in school history. He led the team to an undefeated 4-0 record at Cooper Pool and a 6-2 dual meet record. Five of his athletes made B cut qualifying times. Ense also helped lead his team to produce 15 Academic All-MAC student-athletes and a 3.63 team GPA, which ranked second nationally. Ten of his athletes carried perfect 4.0s.

Cincinnati consistently produced great results both in and out of the pool throughout Ense’s time with the Bearcats. Among them were sophomore Jackie Keire winning four titles at the American Athletic Conference Championships in 2015, being named All-America in the 200 freestyle, and placing 16th at NCAA Championships. Keire also competed in the 100 and 500 freestyle at the NCAA Championships in 2015. Keire was named AAC Most Outstanding Swimmer and also Cincinnati’s Female Athlete of the Year following Ense’s second season.

Under Ense's development, Keire became Cincinnati's first NCAA qualifier and All-American in 10 seasons. But, the accomplishments did not stop at just one individual during his two seasons at UC. Ense led the Bearcats' first male conference champion in more than 10 seasons and saw 14 school records and four conference records fall. Over the course of just two short seasons, Ense's swimmers had an astonishing 63 swims inside the top 10 in school history and had 22 swims achieve the NCAA "B" cut standard.

The Bearcats also excelled in the classroom during Ense's stint at UC, as two swimmers were named Academic All-America in 2015, along with the men's team recording a perfect 1000 APR score.

A five-time Mid-American Conference champion as a swimmer at Eastern Michigan, Ense was named the 2012 CollegeSwimming.com Rising Assistant Coach of the Year.

Ense spent the 2012-13 year as just the second women's head coach at DePauw, where he led the Tigers to a third-place showing at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships. His squad sent five student-athletes to the NCAA Division III Championships, earning DePauw a 27th place finish nationally.

Prior to his time at DePauw, Ense was an assistant coach at Division III powerhouse Denison. Both men's and women's squads finished in the top three nationally each season he was with the Big Red, while the men took home the NCAA Division III title in 2011 and 2012.

During his four years there, the women's team broke 32 school records, 25 conference marks and six national records, while swimmers achieved All-America status on 178 occasions. The men's team posted 35 school records, 15 conference marks and 10 at the NCAA level, while totaling 180 All-America performances.

In 2012, he was named the CollegeSwimming.com Rising Assistant Coach of the Year, with long-time Denison Head Coach Greg Parini calling Ense his "best assistant coach in 25 years."

Before arriving at Denison, Ense worked alongside current Michigan head coach Mike Bottom for three months in Key Largo, Fla., helping prepare 13 Olympians for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Trainee Nathan Adrian was part of the 400 freestyle relay which won gold and set a world record.

A graduate of Cincinnati's Oak Hill High School, Ense went on to swim at Eastern Michigan, where he was a five-time Mid-American Conference champion and MAC Scholar-Athlete. He also competed at the 2000 US Olympic Trials, where he finished ninth in the 5,000.