[1] He is currently the head coach of the Toronto Titans for the International Swimming League, and has also MacDonald coached Varsity Blues swim teams to 24 Canadian Interuniversity Sport USports National Championships — Fifteen women's, and nine men's [2]—including most recently, a women's and men's team competition sweep of the 2015-2016 national titles.

[4] MacDonald was born to Kenzie Angus MacDonald of Mississauga, Ontario, whose family had immigrated from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and Mary Betts Pebbles of Ancaster, Ontario, whose family had immigrated from England and were successful millers in Ancaster.

[6] MacDonald accepted a scholarship to attend the University of Michigan and was an All American in his three years of Varsity competition.

[11] MacDonald began his coaching career in the Fall of 1976 at York University, located in the suburbs of Toronto.

[12] MacDonald's teams have won 24 national titles and 60 Conference titles—arguably the most decorated coach in Canadian university history in any sport.

[13] Two of MacDonald's swimmers have won Olympic Bronze Medals: Marcel Gery in 1992 Barcelona, 4x100 Medley Relay[14] and Kylie Masse, 2016 in Rio in 100m backstroke.

[17] During the 2016 Summer Olympics, MacDonald attracted criticism for remarks on a hot mic that a swimmer in the women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay (which was implied to be a member of the Chinese team) had "dropped the ball", and that she "went out like stink, [and] died like a pig."