Misericordia University Athletics

Alexander Taylor enters his eighth year as the head coach of men's and women's swimming at Misericordia University where he also serves as aquatics director.

Taylor is just the fourth head coach in the 32-year history of the Misericordia swim programs and holds career records of 57-7 (women's) and 40-19 (men's). 
 
He is a two-time MAC Coach of the Year (2020 and 2026).
 
Taylor has guided the women’s team to top-four finishes at the MAC Championship every year since his arrival at Misericordia, including runner-up finishes in 2019-20 and 2025-26.  The men’s team finished third at the MAC championships in 2026.
 
The 2022-2023 women’s team enjoyed the first unbeaten regular season in school history (10-0) and repeated the feat in 2024-25 (9-0).  The women repeated this feat in 2024-2025.

In his first season, he led the women’s team to a 10-1 record and a runner-up finish at the 2020 MAC Championships while the men’s team finished sixth at MAC’s.

Grace Nikolski ended her career with All-America honors in the 100 breaststroke in 2020 and was the MAC champion in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke.
 
In each of Taylor’s seven seasons at Misericordia, both the men’s & women’s team have been recognized for academic excellence by earning Scholar All-America Status.

Prior to his arrival at Misericordia, Taylor spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Mount St. Mary's (MD) University where he helped establish the men's swimming program. 

While at Mount St. Mary’s, Taylor helped nine student-athletes qualify for the CSCAA National Invitational Championship, and in each of his three seasons, the team was recognized by the CSCAA for earning Scholar All-America status.

Taylor was a four-year letterman at SUNY-Potsdam where he served as a two-year team captain and set seven school records.  He was a four-time SUNYAC champion and was the 2012 SUNYAC Most Outstanding Swimmer. He was inducted into the SUNY Potsdam Hall of Fame in 2021.

Taylor earned his bachelor's degree in history secondary education from Potsdam and has a master's in literacy education from Alfred.

He previously served as a graduate assistant coach at Alfred and has worked as camp counselor and coach at the University of Texas.