Jerry Diamond

  • Title
    Head Swimming Coach/Director of Aquatics
  • Email
    jdiamond@sbc.edu
  • Phone
    434-381-6549

BIOGRAPHY

Jerry Diamond enters his fifth season at the helm of the women's swimming program after being named head coach prior to the 2018-19 season. In addition to his head coaching duties, Diamond also serves as the Director of Aquatics.

In his fifth season leading the program, Diamond led the Vixens to a 5-5 dual record while going 5-3 against Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) opponents. Sweet Briar finished seventh out of 11 competing teams at the ODAC Championships. Diamond also saw three student-athletes named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team.

The team went 8-4 (6-3 ODAC) during the 2021-22 season and saw success at the ODAC Championships with a seventh-place finish out 12 total teams. First-year Acadia ElzHowe also became the first Sweet Briar swimmer to be named to the All-ODAC team since 2014.

In a shortened 2021, the Vixens competed in four meets and saw a seventh-place finish at the ODAC Championships.

In his second season at the helm, Diamond led the Vixens to an 8-10 dual record. The 2019-20 season saw the Vixens honored as a Scholar All-America Team by the CSCAA and featured then-first-year Peyton Murphy named ODAC Swimmer of the Week , making her the first Sweet Briar student-athlete in any sport to earn weekly recognition from the ODAC since 2015. Sweet Briar's eight wins in 2019-20 was the first season with more than five dual victories since 2014-15.

Diamond's debut season, 2018-19, also saw the Vixens earn CSCAA Scholar All-America honors and included the team finishing eighth at the ODAC Championships.

In his time at Sweet Briar, Diamond has implemented training improvements in the pool and on dry land, while also adding video elements to training for the Vixen swimmers.

Prior to taking the reins at Sweet Briar, Diamond spent two seasons as an assistant with the men's and women's swimming and diving programs at Hartwick College. The Hawks finished third at the Empire 8 championships on the women's side in 2017-18 and fourth in the men's competition. In the previous season, the Hawks swam to a third-place finish on both the men's and women's sides of the meet.

Diamond previously spent three years as an assistant coach at SUNY Oswego. With the Lakers, Diamond aided to significant improvements in the SUNYAC standings with both teams climbing three places in the final team standings during his time there.

At SUNY Oswego, Diamond spearheaded a weekly underwater filming program that worked in combination with technical stroke training to elicit significant improvements in his athletes. Innovation in video and other forms of training helped breaststroke swimmers see an average 11 percent drop in times and a decrease of more than 40 seconds in the mile.

Diamond was a multi-time all-state performer at Ithaca College, earning all-state recognition in relay events and the 200-yard individual medley during his collegiate career. Diamond holds a top-15 spot all-time at Ithaca in the 200-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard breaststroke.

Diamond earned his Bachelor of Science with an integrated marketing communications concentration in May 2011 from Ithaca College.

Diamond is a member of the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America.

Outside of coaching, Diamond has spent time as an instructor with the Cornell Outdoor Education program at Cornell University.

COACHING HISTORY

Year Overall Pct. ODAC Pct. ODAC Finish
2018-19 2-11 .154 0-0 .000 T8th of 12 (103 pts.)
2019-20 8-10 .444 0-0 .000 12th of 13 (49 pts.)
2020-21 0-4 .000 0-0 .000 7th of 8 (167 pts.)
2021-22 8-4 .667 6-3 .667 7th of 12 (165 pts.)
2022-23 5-5 .500 5-3 ..625 7th of 11 (142 pts.)
5 Seasons 23-34 .353 11-6 .646 7th

PERSONAL

Education: B.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications (Ithaca, 2011)

ACCOLADES

All-ODAC: One Student-Athlete (First Team)
CSCAA Scholar All-America Team: 2022-23; 2021-22; 2020-21; 2019-20; 2018-19
ODAC All-Academic: 17
CSC Academic All-District: Three Student-Athletes
VaSID Academic All-State: One

MILESTONES AT SWEET BRIAR

First Win: vs. Guilford, 89-73 (Nov. 9, 2018)

First ODAC Win: vs. Guilford, 89-73 (Nov. 9, 2018)