Hayes stepping down as head coach of ladies’s swimming

BIDDEFORD, Maine — University of New England head ladies’s swimming coach Rick Hayes has resigned from the place.

“I would like to thank Rick for his years of service to UNE and our student-athletes,” shared Director of Athletics Heather Davis. “First as an assistant coach, and most recently as head coach, Rick demonstrated a long-standing commitment to Nor’easter swimming.”

Hayes was the third head coach of this system, and the longest-tenured by one season. Over 11 years, the ladies’s swimming program amassed a 61-22 document in twin meets, together with the primary undefeated marketing campaign (6-0) in 2025-26, after the earlier program-best win share of .889 (8-1) in 2024-25. Also two seasons in the past, the Nor’easters positioned 4th for a second straight 12 months at the Little East Conference (LEC) Championships, and Hayes and his assistants had been acknowledged because the LEC Coaching Staff of the Year.

UNE’s first-ever expertise with a major convention was in 2021-22, below the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), and the squad completed third out of 10 applications. Hayes was named GNAC Coach of the Year for his efforts, and adopted it up New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association (NEISDA) Coach of the Year on the ensuing regional occasion.

Prior to 2020-21, the Nor’easters had been a daily top-third finisher on the New England Championships. In Hayes’ second season (2016-17), UNE matched the program finest with fifth place out of 21 groups.

He additionally coached the membership males’s swimming group alongside the ladies’s group. Prior to his first collegiate head teaching position at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, which spanning seven years, he served as UNE’s assistant coach below this system’s first head coach, Kate Roy, in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

“I would like to thank the administration for giving me the opportunity to coach this amazing team for the last 11 years,” Hayes mirrored. “More importantly, I need to thank all of the swimmers over the years for their hard work and dedication that has allowed this program to grow and succeed. I am a very lucky coach to have had this experience and formed these connections.”

Plans to determine the subsequent head coach are actively within the works.