NORTHAMPTON - Smith College Director of Athletics
Kristin Hughes has announced
Caleb Potvin as the new head coach of the Smith swimming and diving program. Potvin becomes the eighth head coach in program history after spending the past three years as the women's swim and dive recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at UNH. With over 16 years of coaching experience, Potvin boasts a 66-7-1 career dual meet record as a head and assistant coach with an 25-6-1 record in the NCAA.
"We are very excited to welcome Caleb to the Smith Athletics family," said Hughes. "Caleb impressed all of us with his obvious passion for coaching and developing student-athletes, his commitment to building a strong team culture, and his expertise in creating strategic training programs. He brings with him an extensive background in recruiting strong student-athletes and a true desire to take this program to the next level. I have no doubt that Caleb will hit the ground running and I look forward to supporting this program under his leadership."
While at UNH, Potvin developed training and competition plans to help lead the Wildcats to the 2023 and 2025 America East Championships and a 19-3-1 dual meet record. He was the primary scout and global recruitment coordinator for the class of 2028 which included the conference rookie of the year, conference most outstanding swimmer of the year and three of the top 6 first-year scorers at the 2025 conference championship. Throughout his time at UNH, the team established six school records and over 20 new top-5 all-time performances.
"I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity to be the next head swim and dive coach at Smith College," said Potvin. "Thank you to Kristin Hughes, Jess Duff, the entire search committee, and all members of the incredible Smith athletics department who were a part of the hiring process and my campus interview. Perhaps most importantly, I am grateful for the role the student-athletes played in the process and for the trust they - and the athletics department staff - have placed in me to lead this program."
"Smith is a special place," continued Potvin. "There is no doubt the athletics department enhances the college's powerful mission to educate students for lives of distinction and purpose. I am honored and excited to coach such a driven group of student-athletes and to work alongside such a great coaching staff. This team's future is bright and I'm excited to see what we'll accomplish in our first year together. My family and I can't wait to get on campus! Go Bears!"
Before UNH, Potvin served as the head women's swimming coach at Stonehill College, guiding the team to the highest non-division I team finish at the 2021 ECAC winter championships. He also partnered with legendary coaches Jay Holmes and Steve Bultman to coach varsity and professional swimmers at Texas A&M University.
Prior to moving to Texas, Potvin was head swim coach of EDGE: Sports and Fitness for five years. He received the Champlain Valley Swim League Coaching Excellence Award and served as primary coach for senior level swimmers, qualifying athletes for USA national circuit meets. The program captured five consecutive league and state championships between 2014 and 2018, posting a 41-1 dual meet record after the program had not placed higher than fourth at the league/state meet prior to his tenure. He also produced the club's first US Junior National Qualifier that competed at the Irish Open Championship, while seeing his swimmers qualify for USA SPEEDO Junior National and USA Winter National Championship meets and earn National Club Swimming Association (NSCA) All-America honors.
A 2012 graduate of Saint Michael's College with his B.A. in History, Potvin earned his M.Ed. in Physical Education and Athletic Administration from Plymouth State in 2025.
About Smith Athletics: Smith College is a NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log onto GoSmithBears.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram,
