Phil Bartels ’71 Expands Support for Swimming and Diving; Names Women’s Head Coach Position

The Bartels family has been connected with Big Red athletics for nearly eighty years, and their generosity across the generations has repeatedly strengthened and elevated the university’s varsity teams. With their latest gift to name the Philip H. Bartels ’71 Head Coach of Women’s Swimming, they become the first family to endow and name three coaching positions at Cornell. But that’s just one piece of their tremendous Cornell legacy.

A Multigenerational Legacy

When Henry E. “Hank” Bartels ’48 arrived in Ithaca in 1946 following time at Rutgers University and as a Naval Aviator during World War II, Cornell was in the process of returning to postwar normalcy. Hank was among an influx of veterans attending with support from the GI Bill, and the next decade would bring an enormous building boom across campus. For athletics, the 1950s would see construction of Teagle Hall and Lynah Rink, as well as the official formation of the Ivy League, ushering in a new era of intercollegiate competition. 

Hank had rowed at Rutgers and joined the lightweight crew at Cornell, beginning a lifelong appreciation for the leadership, work ethic, and camaraderie that are central to the Cornell Athletics experience. He and his wife, Nancy Horton Bartels ’48, would become two of the Big Red’s greatest ambassadors and supporters over the following decades, culminating with their induction into Cornell’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001.

In 2000, the Bartels family made a $15 million unrestricted gift to endowment, the largest ever given to Athletics and Physical Education at Cornell. Used as a challenge to inspire other support, their gift leveraged several significant gifts to endow other coaching positions at the time. Hank and Nancy also supported the Henry E. Bartels '48 Head Coach of Men's Lightweight Rowing, the Bartels Director’s Discretionary Fund for the athletics director, and the Henry E. Bartels Shell Fund, which is used to purchase new rowing shells. In 1999, the family named the Philip H. Bartels '71 Head Coach of Men's Swimming after the family’s second generation at Cornell.

A Commitment to Leadership and Service
Phil Bartels ’71, son of Hank and Nancy, followed in the footsteps of his parents, dedicating his time and energy to the university in myriad ways and continuing their philosophy of giving back. He has provided decades of thoughtful guidance and leadership as president of his class, vice chair of the Cornell University Council, and through boards like the Lab of Ornithology Administrative Board, Shoals Marine Lab Advisory Council, Student & Academic Services Advisory Council, and Athletics Advisory Council. Phil’s dedication to uplifting all aspects of the Cornell community is perhaps best demonstrated through the Bartels Awards for Custodial Service Excellence and Bartels Custodial Services Scholarships, which recognize outstanding Building Care staff and support scholarships for staff and their children. In 2020, he was honored with the Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award, an honor that both his parents received in 2008.

As a former Big Red varsity swimmer, Phil has been a stalwart supporter of the swimming and diving program for decades, building a close relationship with coaching staff past and present. His gifts have touched every aspect of the program, including facilities upgrades, support and retention of coaching staff, and travel outside the region for training trips and invitationals. This past December, Phil’s support enabled the women’s and men’s teams to wrap up their fall semester at the Zippy Invitational in Akron, Ohio, followed by the men’s team’s training trip to Puerto Rico over the winter break. These trips create memorable experiences and opportunities for student development and team building. Phil’s gifts over the years have helped fund painting, signage, flooring, filtration systems, and electrical updates to the pools in Teagle Hall and Helen Newman Hall, as well as the modern record board and sound system for Teagle pool.

For swimming and diving head coaches Patrick Gallagher (women’s) and Wes Newman ’09 (men’s), having the Bartels name on their titles is a point of pride. “I’m grateful for Phil’s continued support of the swimming and diving program. He’s already made a significant impact on the lives of many Big Red athletes, and this gift will help ensure our ability to offer future generations of women a world class, holistic athletic experience,” said Gallagher. “I’m honored and proud to be representing the contributions of the Bartels Family and their commitment to equity and excellence in Big Red Athletics.”

Gallagher, who first joined the Big Red coaching staff as an assistant coach in 2001, is in his eighth season as head coach and is the inaugural titleholder of the Philip H.  Bartels '71 Head Coach of Women's Swimming. His student-athletes have rewritten the Cornell record books, posting 116 event times ranked among the top 10 all-time in Big Red history, with 16 individual school records currently held by student-athletes who swam under his leadership.

Newman, an alumnus of the program who has served as Philip H. Bartels '71 Head Coach of Men's Swimming since 2015, has seen similar success with the men’s team, including record-breaking performances by Ivy League champions Paige DaCosta ’23 and Alex Evdokimov ’18. A five-time NCAA All-American, Evdokimov became Cornell’s first national finalist since 1986.

“Phil has been such an impactful supporter of Cornell swimming and diving over the past 25 years; it‘s hard to put into words,” said Newman. “Not only has Phil and the Bartels family given these extraordinary gifts towards endowing our head coaching positions, he’s also provided generous support annually to help fund assistant coaches’ salaries, facility upgrades, and the student-athletes’ share of training trip expenses, to name a few. His support helps provide our student-athletes with what they need to be successful while representing Cornell and reassures them that there are alumni who care about them.”

Elevating the Program
Phil Bartels graduated from Cornell one year before the passing of Title IX and three years before the Ivy League officially began championships in women’s sports. He saw firsthand the disparity between the resources available to men’s teams as compared to women’s teams, and his mother had shared her own experiences of women being treated differently in the 1940s. Phil was also inspired by his interactions with Susan Smith Korbel ’71, who swam with the varsity men’s team during practice due to a lack of other opportunities for women swimmers. “Phil was one of the first who welcomed me,” Korbel recalled. “Once I started swimming, I think most of the other men respected my skills, and so I kept going back, even in the winter. Since there wasn’t a women’s locker room at Teagle, I had to change in the bathroom in the lobby. That meant no hair dryer, so by the time I got back to my dorm, much of my hair was frozen.”

Recognizing the impact of elevating the program as a whole, and not simply the men’s team, Phil’s latest gift is intended to ensure equity between both teams for the future by merging the head coaching endowments for men’s and women’s swimming and diving. Like his parents before him, Phil hopes his gift inspires support from others, as well as an increased commitment to gender parity across athletic programs. The value of supporting future generations has become even more tangible to Phil and wife, Susan, given their two children, Katie ’06 and Chris ’09, are both Cornell graduates, and their two young granddaughters have already started accompanying the family to campus events.

Said Dr. Nicki Moore, the Meaken Smith Director of Athletics & Physical Education: “It is apropos that as we have celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX over the past year, we now celebrate the Bartels’ most recent generous gift that will not only enhance the experience and competitiveness of our swimming and diving teams, but also will promote equity within our athletic community. We are grateful and inspired by this gift. We are committed to activate it in the service of transformative student-athlete experiences in leadership, inclusion, and excellence. We celebrate the Bartels family’s unwavering commitment to our student-athletes and to the values of Cornell University.”

Joe Lucia, the former Philip H. Bartels Head Coach of Men's Swimming who led the men’s program for 28 years and women’s program for 15 years, emphasized the impact of Phil’s latest support. “This new gift of endowment is a game changer as it strengthens the program’s financial stability. It also ensures that both teams will have a head coach that can concentrate on the needs of each individual team and each member of the men’s and women’s teams,” said Lucia. “The Cornell swimming and diving community is most grateful to Phil and Susan.”

Over the years, thousands of Cornell student-athletes and spectators have walked through the doors of Bartels Hall, which serves as home of Newman Arena, the Andrew P. Stifel Fencing Salle, the Lindseth Climbing Wall, the Phillips Outdoor Program Center, and the Friedman Strength and Conditioning Center, as well as the athletics ticket office and offices for several Cornell coaches. Named in 2000, the building is a tangible recognition of the Bartels family and their impact. But for Big Red swimmers, that impact is felt in everything they do.