LOUISVILLE, Ky. – John Brucato, the founder of Bellarmine University's men's and women's swimming programs, was inducted into the Bellarmine Athletics Hall of Fame last week in a closed ceremony.
 
A Covington, Ky., native, Brucato is the 180^th member of the Bellarmine Athletics Hall of Fame and the first from the swimming program.
 
"We were thrilled to honor John for establishing the Bellarmine swimming programs and for his loyal devotion to the Bellarmine community during his tenure," said athletics director Scott Wiegandt. "For 11 years, he guided our student-athletes with his fun-loving, bigger-than-life personality while constantly pushing them to new heights. He was affectionately inquisitive about everything going on at Bellarmine because he truly cared about the success of everyone in our department."
 
Brucato led the Knights swim teams from 2012 until his retirement in 2023, helping guide seven student-athletes to All-American status at the Division II level before piloting the Knights into the Division I era.
 
Current Bellarmine head swimming coach Gord Veldman coached under Brucato as an assistant for eight seasons before taking over following Brucato's retirement.
 
"John Brucato is a great friend, mentor, coach and man," said Veldman. "He built the Bellarmine swim program on hard work and striving to be our best in competition and in the classroom. His extreme dedication to his swimmers and this program has created a strong BU swimming tradition. John not only developed great swimmers and helped them achieve their swimming goals, but also helped develop incredible hardworking student-athletes ready for what's next."
 
Among those student-athletes was current assistant swimming coach and former Division II All-American Grace McCormick, who Brucato hired as an assistant prior to the 2021-22 season.
 
"Having the pleasure to swim for John Brucato for four years and then coach with him for two was a great honor," said McCormick. "One of the things that makes John so special is that he cares about you as more than a swimmer or coach—it is much deeper than that. The strong community of swimmers he has built at BU is nothing short of amazing. He is the model I base my coaching from and I am lucky to have him as a role model and friend."
 
Before coming to Bellarmine, Brucato spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky while also serving as the head coach of the Wildcat Aquatics club team. He graduated from Northern Kentucky University in 1985 with a degree in psychology.
 
In 2021, Brucato revealed that he had been diagnosed with ALS, but continued to coach through the 2022-23 season until deciding to retire.
 
Bellarmine University would like to thank Brucato's family—especially his wife, Jan, who was always available to help with whatever was needed and was a tremendous supporter of both Bellarmine swimming and Bellarmine athletics overall.
 
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