Fairfield Hires Jake Lichter as New Head Swimming & Diving Coach

Almost three months after Jacy Dyer left to become the head coach at her alma mater Toledo, Fairfield University in Connecticut has announced Jake Lichter as its new head swimming & diving coach. Lichter comes from Cornell, where he has been a men’s assistant coach (2018-2022) and men’s associate head coach (2022-2024).

“It’s with great enthusiasm that I announce Jake Lichter as the next leader of the Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving programs,” Schlickmann said. “Jake established himself immediately in our process as an impactful candidate with our search committee and senior leadership team by articulating a clear vision for the holistic development of student-athletes as the vehicle to achieve continued and enhanced competitive success for our two programs. His experiential track record as a coach, recruiter, organizer, educator and team player at highly regarded institutions will serve him well and align seamlessly with our Fairfield mission and our Stags athletics cultural commitments. We are excited for the continued positive trajectory of Stags Swimming and Diving with Jake at the helm.”

“I am incredibly honored and excited to be named the next Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving at Fairfield University,” Coach Lichter said. “I would like to thank Paul Schlickmann, Kelly Bommer, and the entire search committee for this incredible opportunity. Fairfield’s commitment to excellence in and out of the pool was evident as soon as I stepped foot on campus. I am thrilled to continue the established history of success while emphasizing the holistic student-athlete experience to Fairfield. Go Stags!”

The Cornell men set 10 school records last season and junior Joseph Gurski won an Ivy League title in the 100 fly – Cornell’s first title in that event since 1992.

The team finished 7th out of 8 teams at those championships.

He started his coaching career at Ithaca College as an assistant coach for men’s swimming in the 2013-2014 season. During his tenure with Ithaca College, the program qualified 10 athletes for the Division III NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. After one season, he became the assistant women’s swimming coach and assistant aquatics director at Wellesley College, beginning with the 2014-15 campaign.

Lichter remained at Wellesley until he moved back to Ithaca for a position as the head coach of Swim Ithaca which he founded in 2012. Lichter supervised a coaching staff of five and 60 swimmers including national-level athletes from the summer of 2016 to the fall of 2018.

He returned to Ithaca College for the 2017-18 season as an assistant coach where he helped the team secure a third-place finish in the Liberty League Championships and coached four Liberty League champions.

Following his stint at Ithaca College, he moved crosstown to Cornell University as the assistant coach.

Lichter earned his bachelor of science degree in Sports Management from Ithaca College in May, 2013.

While much of his collegiate coaching background has been focused on men’s teams, he will take over both the men’s and women’s programs at Fairfield.

Last season, the Fairfield women finished 2nd at the MAAC Championships, 62 points behind Niagara, after winning the 2023 title. The men’s team finished 4th, 189.5 points behind Marist (who in turn broke Rider’s 11-year winning streak).

Both Fairfield teams return a ton of talent next season: the top 15 scorers on the men’s team last season were all underclassmen, including 3-meter MAAC diving champion Andrew Cataldo and all four members from its runner-up 800 free relay.

While the top scorer on the women’s team and MAAC Championship Most Outstanding Swimmer Nora Segurola was a 5th year last season, most of their top scorers return as well. That includes 100 breaststroke conference champion Tone Sandjso, who was just a freshman last season.