Princeton Names Abby Brethauer New Head Coach of Women’s Program

Princeton University has opted to hire its new head women’s swimming & diving coach in-house, announcing Abby Brethauer as the program’s new leader on Friday.

Brethauer takes over the women’s head coaching role after spending the past two seasons as an assistant with the men’s program, where she worked under current head coach Matt Crispino.

The Princeton women’s head coaching position became vacant when Bret Lundgaard, who had been with the team for six seasons, was named the new head coach at Kentucky in July.

“I am excited to continue my career as a head coach at Princeton University and incredibly grateful for the opportunity to lead the women’s team,” said Brethauer.

“I would like to thank John Mack, Matt Crispino and the entire Tiger family for making Princeton such a wonderful home for me these past two years. I look forward to developing outstanding young women into elite swimmers, divers, students, and people while adding the next chapter to the already storied legacy of Princeton Women’s Swimming & Diving.”

Familiar Face. New Direction.

Excited to have Abby lead the Tigers into the 2023-24 women's swimming and diving season! pic.twitter.com/ZWvm3LixDm

— Princeton Swimming & Diving (@PUCSDT) August 18, 2023

During her two-year stint as an assistant with the Princeton men, Brethauer helped guide the program to consecutive runner-up finishes at the Ivy League Championships. Among the athletes that trained under Brethauer was Raunak Khosla, who went undefeated individually at the Ivy League Championships in each of the past two seasons, sweeping the men’s 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM in consecutive years.

“It is a thrill to have Abby step into the role as our next head coach of women’s swimming and diving,” said Princeton Director of Athletics John Mack.

“We had a fantastic pool of candidates from around the country and Abby was the best of the bunch. She has the coaching experience, competitive fire and appreciation for the student-athlete experience that is necessary to take our program to the next level of success. The future of Princeton women’s swimming and diving is incredibly bright.”

Prior to joining the Tigers staff in New Jersey, Brethauer served as an associate head coach at Tufts University, a role she held from 2018 to 2021, highlighted by her working on the staff that won the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year Award in 2019.

Prior to Tufts, Brethauer was the head coach at the University of Mary Washington, winning the Capital Athletic Conference Women’s Coach of the Year award six times and the Men’s Coach of the Year honor on four occasions. She also served on the Presidential Task Force for Diversity & Inclusion and was the Athletic Department’s Community Service Coordinator from 2013-18 while at Mary Washington.

A Division III All-American during her own collegiate career in the pool, Brethauer also coached at Columbia University from 2004 to 2010, serving as an assistant on the women’s staff while becoming an NCAA Women’s Coaches Academy graduate in May 2009.

During her swimming career, Brethauer was a 13-time All-American and a member of three NCAA Division III Championship winning teams at Kenyon College. A team captain her senior year, Brethauer won the John D. Rilke Sportsmanship Award in 2002, the Molly R. Hatcher Award in Women & Gender Studies in 2000 and was on the Women’s & Gender Studies Advisory Board in 2001 and 2002.

She earned a Masters degree from Columbia Teachers College in 2009 after earning a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s & Gender Studies from Kenyon College in 2002.

The Princeton women have been on an impressive run of success in recent seasons, including winning their second Ivy League title over the past three seasons in February.

Princeton notably hired Chris Balbo as a new assistant coach with the men’s program in late July, perhaps an indication that Brethauer was a top candidate to take over as the women’s head coach.