Michael Caruso was named the Bears’ Director of Aquatics as well as the head coach for the men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs in the summer of 2011.
Michael is a 2002 graduate of Bridgewater State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education. He also received a Master of Science of degree in Sports Management from Indiana State University in 2004. Michael captained the Bridgewater State men’s swimming and diving team both his junior and senior seasons and was selected as the Bridgewater State Lee Harrington Unsung Hero Award winner for the 2000-2001 academic year.
Prior to returning to BSU, Michael spent six seasons from 2002 to 2008 as the head swimming and diving coach at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, and three years as the head swimming coach in the Town of Concord (Massachusetts) recreation program (Concord Otters).
While at Rose-Hulman, Michael coached two Division III All-Americans and two honorable mention All-Americans. One of his swimmers, Matt Smith, won the national championship in the 100 breaststroke during the 2002-2003 season. In each of his six seasons with the Fightin’ Engineers, Michael had at least one student-athlete provisionally qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships. He was named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Men’s Swim Coach of the Year for the 2007-2008 campaign.
At Bridgewater State, Michael has coached 1 NCAA Division III Championship Qualifier (Richard Smith 2018), 1 NCAA Honorable All-American (Richard Smith 2018, 200 Breaststroke), 2 NCAA "Provisional" Cuts (Richard Smith 2017 & 2018), 8 New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association (NEISDA) Individual Champions, 1 NEISDA Relay Champion, 78 NEISDA All-Conference Swimmers & Divers, two individual Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) qualifiers (Philip Tully 2012 & Jameson Rose 2016), one ECAC Relay Qualifier 200 Medley Relay (Rose, Ford, McDougall, Medina 2016), and has overseen 39 BSU individual swimming & diving records as well as 2 NEISDA Individual Records since 2011. Also under Coach Caruso's watch the BSU the swimming & diving program earned a Capital One and the College Sports Information Directors of America (COSIDA) Academic All-American Award (Sullivan Cohen 2013, Third Team).
Michael is a level four certified coach by the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA). In 2003, he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the ASCA for his outstanding coaching performance at Rose-Hulman, for the 2015-2016 season at BSU Mike was named the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association (NEISDA) President.
Michael presently resides in Weymouth, Massachusetts with his son Conrad, and his wife, Shannon.