Lewis Athletics
Luke Rinne
ROMEOVILLE – Lewis University of Director of Athletics Dr. John Planek announced on Monday (July 19) that Evan Sholudko has been hired as the new head coach for the Lewis men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs. He becomes the sixth head coach in the program’s history.
“I am honored to have been chosen as the next head coach of the Lewis swimming and diving program,” Sholudko said. “I am grateful to Athletic Director, Dr. John Planek and the rest of the athletic department for this great opportunity. I am very eager to meet and work with the program’s student-athletes.
“I look forward to creating an outstanding team culture and tradition where our student-athletes can excel both in the classroom and in the pool,” he said. “I am confident that, with the support provided by the University and Athletic Department, we will create a program dedicated to excellence. Go Flyers!”
“Coach Sholudko is a talented young coach that brings experience both as a head coach and collegiate swimmer,” Dr. Planek said. “His familiarity with the Midwest combined with a strong desire and vision to succeed will indeed help our swim program.”
Sholudko spent the past two years as the head coach of the men’s and women’s swimming programs at Eastern Illinois University. During his tenure leading the Panthers, the program saw steady improvement as he coached 89 top ten all-time school performance, seven school record breaking performances, five home pool record performances and one Summit League Champion.
Under his guidance, EIU’s team experienced success in the classroom earning College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar Team Awards for both the men’s and women’s teams in in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Sholudko also coached eight Summit League All-Academic selections over the past two seasons.
Prior to his time at EIU, he coached at Assumption University, serving as the head men’s swim coach 2018-19 and as assistant head women’s coach 2017-2019. In 2019, Assumption won the Northeast 10 Conference Championship, and finished second in 2018.
Sholudko began his NCAA coaching career in 2016, as Assistant Coach at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he helped coach the program to an Empire 8 Conference Championship in 2017. That year the Steven’s coaching staff was named 2017 Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year.
He began coaching as a USA/NE Club swim coach where he coached many future Olympic trial qualifiers.
Sholudko, a native of Franklin, Massachusetts, swam for four years at the University of Massachusetts where he earned his bachelor’s degree in economics with a minor in psychology and he received his master’s degree in business administration from Assumption University.