On April 24, interim athletics director Peter Roby ’79 announced the hiring of Jesse Moore as the new head coach of the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams. Since being cut last July and subsequently reinstated in January, the teams were without a coach even as they returned to practice this winter.
Roby said he was pleased with how the athletic department’s search for a new coach unfolded and added that the search was part of an important process to rebuild trust throughout the athletics department.
“We’re really excited about [Moore’s] announcement and his decision to come and join us and lead the program,” Roby said.
According to Roby, the athletic department included student-athletes and alumni in the process of finding a new coach.
“We included the student-athletes in the process of the interviews for the finalists as well as the alumni,” Roby said. “So I think we followed through on some of the things that we said we were going to do. I think that’s the way that you build trust — you follow through on the things that you said you were going to do, and you build credibility that way.”
Moore comes to Dartmouth from the University of Minnesota, where he served as associate head coach of the Golden Gophers’ program for three seasons. During his time in Minneapolis, Moore coached 33 NCAA qualifiers, with the women’s team placing 11th and the men’s team placing 19th at the NCAA Championships in 2019. Before his time at Minnesota, Moore served as associate women’s head coach at Northwestern University from 2016 to 2018, an assistant coach and director of recruiting at Duke University from 2012 to 2016 and an assistant coach at the College of William & Mary, his alma mater, from 2010 to 2012. Moore’s first stint in collegiate athletics was at Drexel University, where he worked as the graduate assistant academic advisor for student-athletes.
Moore said he hopes to build off his previous experiences as he takes the helm of the Big Green’s swimming and diving program.
“I took something from every school — coaching out of the pool, as well as coaching in the pool,” Moore said. “Whether it's skills in fundraising, recruiting, building relationships with the team and people across campus or being involved within the athletics department on a deeper level beyond the swimming and diving program — I think all of those areas are going to be extremely important to Dartmouth swim and dive and moving the program forward.”
Moore expressed excitement about living in New England and joining the Dartmouth community. Now that he is in Hanover, Moore said he is looking forward to getting to work and building the swimming and diving teams back up after last year's unexpected cuts.
“I don't want to focus on that cut. I want to focus on moving forward and getting the team to fall in love with the sport again and to have a great experience,” Moore said. “I want the team to be good stewards of [the College], to engage alumni and to excite potential student-athletes for the future.”
Swimmer Joe Moll ’22 said that many members of the swimming and diving teams have said they are excited to welcome Moore to the pool. The teams have been without a head coach since their January reinstatement and are eager for the return of a coach to bring them together. Moll said it is exciting to “get going” again.
“Even once we got the team reinstated, we've kind of been in a limbo phase for the past month or two, and now we have a coach, so we can really hit the ground running,” he said.
Swimmer Ashley Post ’22 said that the team is “super pumped” and excited to begin working with Moore.
“I think he's going to be awesome, a really high-energy, hands-on coach who will also help us get back up and going — because we've lost a couple years of recruiting, which is gonna be tough,” she said.
Although the recruiting process has become more difficult due to the elimination and reinstatement of the program, Moore said he is optimistic about bringing new swimmers and divers to Dartmouth.
“I feel very secure about the future of the program, and I will be working with alumni to ensure long-term financial stability and the [athletics] department who will have our back — that's something that I can tell recruits and, and they can feel secure in that,” Moore said.
Roby also said he believes that the swimming and diving team will overcome any challenges in the recruitment of new athletes.
"I think once the student-athletes heard about the reinstatement and that we have a coach and that we’re committed to the program, you’re starting to see a lot of excitement again,” Roby said. “[Moore] has already started to hear from prospective students who want to come to Dartmouth and swim or dive. I think that speaks volumes to what kind of a place Dartmouth is, what it means to compete in the Ivy League and the unique opportunity that Dartmouth provides."
With most of the team returning after the reinstatement, Moore said he is ready to come back to competition stronger than ever. Although the team is not competing this spring, the team expects a full return to competition next fall with Moore at the reins of the program. After a tumultuous past year, swimmers and divers are ready to jump back into their love of the sport.
“I think he's going to do a great job reigniting our passion for the sport and making swimming and diving really fun, because that's something that we all need,” Post said.
Benjamin Ashley and Ethan Strauss contributed reporting.
