Courtesy: Amherst Athletics
Director of Athletics Don Faulstick announced Thursday that Connor Beaulieu ’14 has been named the head coach of the Amherst College men’s and women’s swimming and diving program.
Beaulieu returns to his alma mater after spending the previous 13 months as an assistant swim coach at Georgetown University. He succeeds Nick Nichols, who retired in May after 25 years as the coach of Amherst men’s and women’s swimming and diving.
“I am humbled and honored to be returning to Amherst College to help this program write its next chapter after Nick Nichols‘ indelible leadership over 25 years,” Beaulieu said. “The connections I built across campus as a student at Amherst have been foundational to who I am as a coach.
“I will work to build relationships with our student-athletes who aspire to accomplish everything they want at Amherst and long after. I want to thank Don Faulstick and the Provost and Dean of Faculty Catherine Epstein for trusting me to lead the men’s and women’s swim & dive teams.”
At Georgetown, Beaulieu helped guide the Hoyas men’s program to a Big East championship, where they set five school records in the pool.
Prior to that, he coached at Yale University for four years. He made an immediate impact in his first season. In 2019, he helped the men’s 200 freestyle relay team win the Ivy League championship, set a new school record and qualify for the NCAA Championship. In 2022, Beaulieu guided one swimmer to a fifth-place mark at the women’s NCAA Championships and helped the women’s team to a second-place finish at Ivy Championships.
“I’m excited to welcome Connor back to Amherst,” Faulstick said. “His experiences over the past nine years position him well to be successful and to lead our teams to new heights in all areas. His passion and knowledge of the sport and for Amherst are undeniable.”
Prior to Yale, Beaulieu served as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Texas, helping the Longhorns to a pair of top-10 NCAA finishes. He spent two seasons at Texas, lifting the Big 12 Championship trophy both times. In his first season, UT placed sixth at the NCAA Championship and improved to a fifth-place finish in 2019. In each of his two years, Texas swept the Big 12 Swimmer, Diver and Newcomer of the Year awards.
Beaulieu has also spent time with Connecticut College and Caltech prior to his success in the Big 12. In the 2016-17 season, he helped the Connecticut College women’s team to its first top-10 NCAA finish in school history and mentored 11 All-Americans. With Caltech, Beaulieu helped the Beavers break 21 school records and capture a women’s conference event title for the first time in program history.
The Windsor, Connecticut, native is a 2014 graduate of Amherst where he majored in law, jurisprudence and social thought. He swam at Amherst for three seasons and was selected as the “Most Committed” by his teammates in his sophomore and junior seasons.
While at Amherst, Beaulieu was deeply impacted by his coach, the man he now succeeds.
“No one can ever fill Nick Nichols‘ hiking shoes, but I hope to build on the success he had over 25 years,” Beaulieu said. “Nick is a foundational part of my life and I am prepared to serve the student-athletes at Amherst in a way that honors his legacy. By following his examples of authentic and empathetic leadership and using the experiences and lessons I have gained working for other remarkable institutions, I hope to connect this program’s past, present, and future and achieve each goal we set.”
Beaulieu begins his tenure July 24th.
Cal Tech women have never won the SCIAC Championships. In fact, they usually come in last. How could that claim be made?
“women’s conference event title” while unclear, I believe this refers to an individual event champion (which Caltech has had) as opposed to an overall women’s team title. Definitely a bit confusing in the write-up though.
event title..not team title. English is hard.