(Tribune News Service) — Rich MacDonald resigned as Navy diving coach after being arrested on assault charges following a domestic incident involving his wife.

Anne Arundel County Police charged MacDonald with second-degree assault and he was jailed at the Jennifer Road Detention Center on Wednesday. MacDonald was released on his own recognizance the same day.

Navy Athletics announced MacDonald's resignation as diving coach Friday morning in a two-sentence press release. It stated MacDonald's resignation was effective immediately and that a national search for his replacement had already begun.

Contacted by The Capital, Navy athletics spokesperson Scott Strasemeier declined to comment.

MacDonald was in the midst of his 10th season as Navy diving coach, working with both the men and women. He was a nine-time Patriot League men's and women's diving Coach of the Year.

An Anne Arundel County police officer responded to MacDonald's Annapolis home at at 10:37 a.m. Wednesday and spoke to the Navy coach's wife about an incident that happened hours earlier, according to police charging documents.

Rich MacDonald had been drinking alcohol throughout the night. At 1:44 a.m., MacDonald entered an upstairs bedroom, woke his wife and began yelling that she was "worthless" and that he was "done" with her while tearing her shirt, according to charging documents.

MacDonald's wife retreated to a downstairs foyer and was followed by her husband, who grabbed her by the shirt and threw her to the floor. Rich MacDonald proceeded to break two railing support posts in the kitchen by swinging a chair at them. He also punched a hole in the foyer wall, the charging documents state.

MacDonald's wife fled to the upstairs bedroom, to which her husband tried to force entry — causing damage to the door. The responding officer observed bruises on both of her arms. The couple's 8-year-old child was home at the time of the incident and witnessed the assault, the police report stated.

MacDonald led Navy divers to 22 event titles at the Patriot League Championships. He has coached several Patriot League Diver of the Year selections, including 2023 men's honoree Blake Shaw.

MacDonald was named the Joe Suriano Men's Diving Coach of the Year again this season. He has mentored many Navy divers that advanced to the NCAA Championship meet and serves on the NCAA Diving Rules Committee.

Navy sent four competitors to the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, which begin Monday at West Virginia University. Men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts will lead the Navy contingent in place of MacDonald. Former Navy great female diver Hannah Montau, a four-time NCAA Championship qualifier who is on temporary assignment duty at the academy, will assist Roberts.

Rich MacDonald arrived at Navy in 2013 after serving the previous four seasons as diving head coach at Virginia. He previously served as the first full-time diving coach in East Carolina history and spent nine seasons in Greenville.

A 1997 Rhode Island graduate, MacDonald began serving as diving coach at his alma mater immediately upon graduation. He is a native of Fort Washington, Pa.

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