Jerry Diamond joined the Allegheny College community as the head men's and women's swimming and diving coach in July of 2023.
A former Division III student-athlete, Diamond joins the Gators with a decade of coaching experience at the Division III level. In his last stop at Sweet Briar College, a women's college in central Virginia, Diamond spent five years leading the Vixens as the head swimming coach and the College's director of aquatics.
Diamond was instrumental in growing the Sweet Briar program since taking over before the 2018-19 campaign. Although the Vixens won only two dual meets in his first season, they improved dramatically and won as many as eight duals on two occasions under his tutelage. The team finished 8-10 in his second season, marking Sweet Briar's first with more than five victories in five years. In December of that year, Peyton Murphy earned Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Swimmer of the Year, which made her the first Sweet Briar student-athlete in any sport to collect weekly recognition from the conference since 2015.
The 2021-22 Sweet Briar team finished 8-4 overall and 6-3 in dual meets against ODAC competition. That year, the Vixens placed seventh out of 12 teams at the ODAC Championships, while first-year swimmer Acadia ElzHowe became the first Vixen swimmer to garner All-ODAC honors in eight years with a program-record time in the 200-yard butterfly.
The Vixens have excelled in the classroom during Diamond's tenure, as the team has received College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America honors in seven of nine semesters.
Before taking charge of the Vixens, the Junction City, Oregon, native spent a combined five years as an assistant coach at two schools in New York, SUNY Oswego (2013-16) and Hartwick College (2016-18).
With the Hawks, Diamond helped mentor six individual Empire 8 Conference champions and one gold-medal relay team. In his first year, the women's 200 medley relay set a new program record, and the following season, the 200 freestyle relay won an E8 title. On the men's side, senior Brendan Quinn notched two NCAA "B" cut times at the Empire 8/Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association (UNYSCSA) Championships in 2016-17, which helped the Hawks place fourth out of 14 teams at the meet.
In each of his coaching stops, Diamond has implemented innovative video training programs that have helped student-athletes make significant improvements. During his time at SUNY Oswego, he spearheaded an underwater filming program that helped the Lakers' breaststroke swimmers reduce their times by an average of 11%.
Diamond earned a bachelor of science in integrated marketing communications from another New York institution, Ithaca College, in 2011. As a member of the Bombers' swim program, he was a multi-time all-state performer in relay events and the 200-yard individual medley. In his senior year, Ithaca was nearly unbeaten in dual meets, as the Bombers went 15-1 before winning E8 and UNYSCSA championships.
Allegheny Career Coaching Highlights
2023-2024 Men's Swimming and Diving
- 6th at PAC Championships
- Three All-PAC Selections: Jack Malnar (2nd), Emmett Manning (2nd), Emmet Fluharty (2nd)
- Two CSC Academic All-District Selections: Jack Malnar, Emmet Fluharty
2023-2024 Women's Swimming and Diving
- 6th at PAC Championships
- Four PAC Individual Champions: Olivia Kraus (50 and 100 Freestyle), Josephine Reiter (100 and 200 Breaststroke)
- Four All-PAC Selections: Olivia Kraus (1st), Josephine Reiter (1st), Anna Kohler (2nd), Katya Pryshchenko (2nd)
- Four CSC Academic All-District Selections: Olivia Kraus, Anna Kohler, Katya Pryshchenko, Josephine Reiter
