Duke Completes Coaching Staff With Addition Of Kate Moore As Assistant Coach

The Duke Blue Devils have announced the hiring of Kate Moore to finalize their staff for the 2023-2024 season.

Head Coach Brian Barnes announced the hiring saying, “I am excited to announce the completion of my staff search with the addition of Kate Moore. Kate is coming to Duke with a terrific background; years of experience and endorsements and high accolades from many of her peers. It was quite clear early in this process that Kate was very enthusiastic about coaching at Duke. We have an amazing coaching staff in place and this 2023-24 season is going to be fun and challenging!”

Moore was grateful of the hiring saying, “I am so excited to be coming back to North Carolina to join such a high energy staff at Duke and I’m thankful to Brian for the amazing opportunity. With Duke offering a one-of-a-kind student-athlete experience and the talent already present on the team, I know the ceiling is high and I can’t wait to see what this group can do.”

Moore most recently spent time at Washington State. She joined Washington State in the 2020-2021 season as an assistant coach and was elevated to associate head coach for this past season. This past season, the team sent two freshmen, Dori Hathazi and Emily Ludgren to the NCAA Championships. They became the first freshman to earn an NCAA invite in program history.

Prior to arriving at Washington State, Moore spent 10 years on the coaching staff at East Carolina University. There she was an assistant coach for five years, head assistant for two, and associate head coach for her final three years.

Moore graduated from East Carolina University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. She then went on to earn her master’s in health education in 2009, also from ECU.

Moore swam all four years while at ECU. As a freshman, she earned ‘Most Improved Swimmer’ honors. She was an NCAA ‘B’ cut qualifier and a US Open Qualifier as well. In her senior year, she earned ‘Most Outstanding Swimmer’ honors.

The addition of Moore brings the total number of coaches at Duke to five. Head coach Brian Barnes was hired in May 2023 as the school’s next head coach after Dan Colella died at age 60 after complications with prostate cancer. Barnes then added Coleman Stewart and Daniel Graber to the staff.

The Duke women were 5th at the 2023 ACC Championships while the men were 10th. The women went on to finish 21st at NCAAs, highlighted by ‘A’ final swims from Kaelyn Gridley and Sarah Foley.