Tony Marleneanu enters his second season as head coach of the Florida Tech men’s and women’s swimming program, a position he assumed in August 2024 as the fourth head coach in program history.
In the 2025-26 season, Marleneanu sent six swimmers to the NCAA Championships (Akos Hajagos, Efe Ongoren, Emiel van Oord, Lucas Mitchelmore, Andy Pleiman and Dylan Ostoalza), the most that Tech has sent to nationals since the 2018-19 season. While there, all six scholar-athletes earned All-American status including Akos Hajagos who placed fourth in the "A" finals and set a school record time of 1:44.48 in the 200 Fly. Under Marleneanu's coaching, Hajagos earned First Team All-SSC while Dan Kunin was named to the Third Team. Both the men's and women's teams notched fifth place finishes at the 2026 SSC Championships.
In his first season (2024–25), Marleneanu guided the Panthers to strong performances on both the men’s and women’s sides, highlighted by Efe Ongoren becoming the program’s seventh men’s swimmer to earn All-American honors. Ongoren placed ninth in the 500 freestyle with a school-record time of 4:23.00. The men’s team reached a season-high national ranking of No. 25, earned votes in national polls on the women’s side, and secured a notable dual meet victory over No. 17 Rollins.
Marleneanu joined Florida Tech after five seasons at Hendrix College, where he led the Warriors to a 22–15 record and coached 16 All-SAA swimmers. His tenure included multiple school records, conference honors, and individual breakthroughs, including SAA Men’s Coach of the Year recognition in his first season.
Before Hendrix, he coached at Sacred Heart High School and led The AquaKids swim program, along with additional coaching roles at Northwest Arkansas Aquatics and RAC AquaHawgs. He began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Henderson State.
A former NCAA All-American swimmer at Henderson State, Marleneanu also competed internationally for Romania, including appearances with the national team at the 2004 ILS World Championships. He earned his degree in business administration and brings both international competitive and coaching experience to the Panthers.
