Tom Hodgson (2022) - Hall of Fame - The University of St. Thomas

Tom Hodgson

Induction:
2022

Tom Hodgson retired in May 2014 after a 35-run directing the Tommie programs... hired in fall 1979 to coach of the women's swim team in year three of that program's existence, he added the men's team to his head coach responsibilities one year later... also began teaching as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Health and Human Performance... his teams were known for their culture and "Family" identity, a term coined by the student-athletes after he initiated co-ed practices in January 1981... his 35-year tenure as head coach in a single sport was at the time unprecedented in St. Thomas' first 110 years of varsity athletics... for most of his career, he recruited teams to and coached in the five-lane O'Shaughnessy Natatorium, a facility that opened in 1940... despite that pool's limitations, he coached more than 100 MIAC champions and produced 46 All-Americas... with the 2010 opening of the new Anderson Aquatic Center -- a facility that he had extensive input in the pool design -- St. Thomas swim-dive surged... the men's team won two of the next four MIAC Championships, and his final women's teams built the foundation for multiple MIAC titles after he retired... he received seven MIAC Coach of the Year awards since the award was created in 2002 until his 2014 retirement... his athletes received multiple CoSIDA Academic All-America honors; were consistently among the CSCAA's Scholar All-America teams; and built a proud community and campus service tradition, including its annual food shelf donation and active participation in the Ted Mullin Hour of Power fundraisers for cancer research... he was inducted into the Rochester sports Hall of Fame in April 2012. He won four state championships in three events and set a state record in the 200 IM while swimming at Rochester Mayo High... he went on to swim collegiately at the University of Minnesota, where he was a co-captain for the Gophers, broke a U of M school record in the 400 IM, and at the time ranked second all-time on the school's 200 IM and 100 backstroke lists.