Notre Dame Announces Michael Norment As New Head Swimming & Diving Coach

The University of Notre Dame announced Michael Norment as its head swimming & diving coach on Thursday.

Norment heads to South Bend after spending the past two seasons as an associate head coach and recruiting coordinator of the men’s team at the University of Georgia, his alma mater.

Norment takes over from Chris Lindauer, the former Notre Dame head coach who was named the head coach of the Stanford women’s team in May. Lindauer led the Irish for three seasons, including guiding the men’s team to a program-high 10th-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships.

“I am extremely excited and honored to have been chosen to lead the Fighting Irish swimming and diving program,” Norment said. “I want to start by expressing gratitude to Father (Robert A.) Dowd and Pete (Bevacqua) for this amazing opportunity.

“Notre Dame’s deep tradition, passionate fans and place at the forefront of college academics and athletics made this an attractive job for me, and the interactions I had during the interview process solidified my desire to make the move to South Bend. When you step on campus, it is obvious that Notre Dame strives for excellence in everything it does, whether it is in the classroom, in the pool or in every interaction the prestigious university has across the country and across the globe. I can’t wait to hit the ground running and build on that tradition.

“To Georgia Athletic Director Josh Brooks, Head Coach Neil Versfeld, Senior Associate Athletic Director Matt Brachowski, Team Administrator Christen Shedden, Senior Associate Athletic Director Glada Horvat and Senior Deputy Director of Athletics Darrice Griffin — thank you for providing me with an opportunity to grow and learn. I will forever be grateful for your help and support. To the Georgia men’s swimming and diving program, thank you. I love you and Godspeed.”

Last season, Norment helped guide the Georgia men to a 7th-place finish at the Men’s NCAA Championships, a significant improvement after placing 11th in 2024. He played a key role working with Luca Urlando, who won the NCAA title in the men’s 200 fly, breaking the American, U.S. Open and NCAA Records in the event.

Prior to accepting the Georgia role in May 2023, Norment had a five-year stint as an assistant at Georgia Tech, helping guide the Yellow Jackets to plenty of success, including producing six individual ACC event titles and scoring in four straight NCAA Championships, something the team failed to do in the two seasons before he was hired.

He also spent time working with Olympian Nic Fink, who started working with Norment in 2021 and went on to win three medals at the 2024 Games in Paris.

“After a thorough national search, we are thrilled to welcome Michael Norment to the Notre Dame family,” Notre Dame Vice President and James E. Rohr Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua said. “During the interview process, it became abundantly clear that Michael shares our firm commitment to the fully integrated student-athlete experience. We cannot wait to have Michael and his family on campus.”

While Notre Dame isn’t subject to the same public record laws as other schools, sources tell SwimSwam that the Notre Dame head coaching job was being offered at around $130k per year. Norment’s salary at Georgia was $97,500.

Norment joins Notre Dame as the program looks toward a reset following the suspension of the men’s team for the 2024-25 season after an investigation found “numerous violations of NCAA rules prohibiting gambling on intercollegiate swimming and other athletic competitions” and a “deeply embedded team culture dismissive of Notre Dame’s standards for student-athletes, including our expectation that they treat one another with dignity and respect.”

With the men’s swim team suspended, they sent one diver, Benedict Nguyen, to the NCAA Championships, placing 29th on platform, while the women sent three athletes to compete individually at the NCAAs, scoring zero points with Carli Cronk being their top finisher by taking 28th in the 200 fly.

At the 2025 ACC Championships, the Notre Dame women placed 12th with 275 points after taking 8th in 2024, prior to the addition of Stanford, Cal and SMU.

Prior to the men’s team suspension, they finished 2nd at the 2024 ACCs and 10th at NCAAs, both program highs.

Heading into 2025-26, though they no longer have superstar Chris Guiliano, the Fighting Irish men’s team will have some momentum with rising senior Tommy Janton coming off winning the men’s 100 back at the 2025 U.S. National Championships earlier this month in Indianapolis, qualifying him for the World Championship team.

In addition to his collegiate coaching career, Norment is also the founder of the Metro Atlanta Aquatic Club (MAAC) and co-founder of the Swim with a Purpose Swim School. Prior to founding MAAC, he served as a coach at DeKalb Aquatics for eight years. While at MAAC, Norment coached future NCAA champion and World University Games gold medalist Dean Farris, who won two NCSA Junior National championships along with a pair of Georgia high school state titles as well.

A native of Hempstead, N.Y., Norment was a 16-time All-American during his collegiate career at Georgia, helping the Bulldogs finish third at the 1997 NCAA Championships, the highest finish in team history. He also won the 1994 SEC title in the 100 breast as a freshman (followed by three consecutive runner-up finishes), and also was twice named to the USA Swimming National Team and represented the U.S. twice at the Pan Pacific Championships.

Following his collegiate career, Norment graduated from the University of Georgia in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in education. Norment and his wife, Nay, have two children: daughter, Assata Rose, and son, Mozi.