The Duke Blue Devils are assembling its new swimming & diving coaching staff, and the lineup so far has a heavy flavor of their cross-town rivals the NC State Wolfpack. The latest addition fits that bill – Daniel Graber, a 2019 NC State graduate, and a three-time CSCAA collegiate All-American, will join the roster.
Graber spent last season as an assistant coach at Dartmouth, where the team set six school records and entered 75 new times on the school’s all-time top 10 performances lists. Among his roles at Dartmouth was leading all dryland workouts for the team.
Prior to that, he spent a year as a volunteer assistant at Virginia Tech, working with middle-distance and sprint groups.
“I am ecstatic to be joining this staff,” Graber said. “(Head coach) Brian (Barnes) has a great vision for this program that I am eager to support with my experience and knowledge. I am looking forward to seeing this program grow and can’t wait to get to work!”
Barnes himself came to Duke from NC State, where he was an associate head coach since 2020. The two did not overlap professionally with the Wolfpack. Barnes’ first hire was recently-retired World Record breaker Coleman Stewart, another NC State alumnus.
As an athlete, Graber qualified for the NCAA Championships as both a junior and a senior in 2018 and 2019, respectively. That included an individual swim in the 100 breast as a senior where he placed 40th. That year, he was 4th at the ACC Championships in the same event.
As a senior, he swam the breaststroke leg on NC State’s winning 200 and 400 medley relays. He also swam the breaststroke leg at NCAAs, where the 200 medley relay finished 3rd and the 400 medley relay finished 4th.
Dartmouth spent last season with two assistants after reinstating its co-ed swimming & diving program. While that’s fewer than the NCAA-allowed maximum, head coach Milana Socha says it is in line with the maximum staff size that the program has been allowed since combining the men’s and women’s programs in 2006.
Dartmouth in June hired Freya Rayner to join the staff.
Makes sense that former Wolfpackers want to return to the Triangle.
Great addition for Duke! Dan was recruiting my son for Dartmouth, and he was amazing to work with. Congrats, Dan!
Looks like a great move, but man … poor Dartmouth.