Princeton Names Abby Brethauer Head Coach of Women’s Team
Princeton on Friday announced the hiring of Abby Brethauer as its new head coach of the women’s swimming and diving team.
Brethauer steps over from the men’s program, where she was an assistant coach for the last two seasons. Brethauer replaces Bret Lundgaard, who last month left to take over the head coaching job at Kentucky.
“It is a thrill to have Abby step into the role as our next head coach of women’s swimming and diving,” Director of Athletics John Mack said in a university statement. “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.”
Brethauer has had a varied coaching career since her outstanding swimming tenure at Kenyon College, where she was a 13-time All-American and part of three NCAA Division III championships. She was a team captain and graduated in 2002. She spent eight years as the head coach at the University of Mary Washington and 12 years as an assistant or associate head coach.
“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,” Brethauer said. “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.”
Brethauer helped Princeton’s men’s team finish in the top 25 in the CSCAA Dual Meet rankings last year, a first for the program. They were the runner-up at the Ivy League Championships for the third straight year, with four event champions as Raunak Khosla as the High Point Swimmer of the Meet for the second straight year.
Brethauer joined Princeton after serving as the associate head coach for Tufts University’s men’s and women’s programs for two seasons. Among her charges there was Roger Gu, who in 2019 claimed the school’s first NCAA Division III championship since 1982.
In her eight years leading Mary Washington, Brethauer was six times named the Capital Athletic Conference’s women’s coach of the year and won the men’s award four times.
Brethauer spent six seasons as an assistant coach for the women’s team at Columbia (2004-10) and was an assistant coach at Hamilton College in 2002-23. While at Columbia, Brethauer earned her master’s degree from its teachers college in 2009.
“There is no one better suited to lead Princeton women’s swimming & diving program than Abby Brethauer,” Princeton men’s coach Matt Crispino said. “For the last two years, she has been instrumental to the success of our men’s team. Abby is a world class coach with a deep understanding of Princeton and the Ivy League. But more importantly, Abby is the right person for the job — she is compassionate, invests fully in the people she coaches, and will provide an environment for each woman to thrive in and out of the pool. I could not be more proud of Abby and honored to continue sharing the pool deck with her.”
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