The founder of Tiger men’s swimming and diving, Ray Riordan was inducted into the Towson Hall of Fame in 2002.
Riordon spent 30 seasons as the Tigers’ coach and finished his career with a 246-176 mark. The Tigers posted a winning record in 23 of those seasons and won seven conference championships.
In 1981 and 1982, the Tigers posted back-to-back undefeated seasons, winning 29 consecutive dual meets. After coaching the Tigers to the 1975 Mason-Dixon Conference title, he coached the Tigers to six Tri-State championships. In 1988, he added the women’s team to his coaching responsibilities.
In 10 seasons, he led the women’s team to a 55-58 record that included six consecutive winning seasons. During his long career at Towson, Riordon was named as the Coach of the Year twice. A 1956 graduate of Shepherd College, he is already a member of Shepherd’s Hall of Fame.
A native of Washington, D.C., he was a two-sport standout in baseball and swimming for the Rams. After he graduated from Shepherd, Riordon began his coaching career at West Virginia University in 1963. In 1964, he joined Towson’s athletics staff as a physical education teach and director of intramural sports. He served as the track & field and cross country coach for four years.
When Burdick Hall was completed in 1968, he founded the Tigers’ swimming programs. After teaching at Towson for 34 years, Riordon retired in 1998.
