Robby MacDonald has spent a healthy portion of his life involved in swimming.
Not only was he a competitive swimmer at Bangor High School and at the University of Maine, he also coached swimming at Bangor High and Colby College in Waterville before becoming the swimming and diving writer for the Bangor Daily News.
His impressive, multifaceted career in the sport he loves earned has earned him a cherished spot in the Maine Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame.
MacDonald will be inducted on Sunday afternoon at the Green Ladle on the campus of Lewiston High School. A social hour will kick off the festivities at noon.
He will be joined in the induction class by former Cape Elizabeth, University of Miami and University of North Carolina standout Taylor McFarlane and Portland’s Linda Smith-Pulsifer.
The class was selected by the Hall of Fame committee.
MacDonald guided the Bangor girls swim teams to six state Class A championships in nine seasons before coaching the Colby men and women for three seasons.
He has also served on the Maine Principals’ Association swimming and diving committee and on the national rules committee.
“I am so honored and so humbled. This has given me some bounce in my step,” said the 64-year-old MacDonald. “When I began my first association with swimming as a young boy, I never imagined the opportunities that would be available to me. But they were because coaches like Phil Emery, Alan Switzer and Jeff Wren really invested in me.
“They helped me develop a passion and a purpose that led me into teaching and coaching. I have been so blessed by having so many good experiences throughout my swimming career. I have worked with some terrific young people and we’ve shared some experiences that are lifelong,” added MacDonald, who is the assistant superintendent of schools in Bangor.
“Swimming has absolutely been a huge part of my life. It has been a lifelong association,” said MacDonald.
MacDonald swam on legendary Bangor High School coach Emery’s first varsity team and he went on to swim on the first varsity team at UMaine under Switzer.
Emery and Switzer are Hall of Fame coaches and Switzer is still coaching the women’s team at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire.
Wren was an assistant coach at Maine before becoming the head coach. He is now the assistant swimming and diving coach at Husson University in Bangor.
MacDonald and his late wife Shirley (Averill) had two daughters, Sarah and Katy (MacDonald) Godley, both of whom will be in attendance on Sunday.