Nicole Benson – Assistant Coach – Girls’s Swimming and Diving Coaches

Nicole Benson returned for her third tenure as an assistant coach underneath Josh Willman in 2025-26. Previously, she was a volunteer assistant coach from 2004-11 earlier than returning as a volunteer assistant for the 2018 season. She was a part of three UNH America East Championships: 2013, 2014 and 2018.

 

Benson returned to UNH from Phillips Exeter Academy, the place she served as an assistant varsity swim coach at one of the unique non-public colleges on the planet from 2018-25. Her management performed a significant factor within the success of a workforce that produced extremely proficient highschool and age-group swimmers on the regional, nationwide and, as of this previous spring, worldwide degree.

 

Benson was a standout swimmer on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay the place she swam dash freestyle and backstroke occasions for 3 seasons. She nonetheless holds a number of top-10 instances at UWGB and was inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame in 2002. She went on to finish her eligibility on the University of Kansas, the place she earned her Master’s diploma in Sociology.

 

Benson began her teaching profession as a graduate assistant for Kansas and assistant masters swimming coach in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1997 and 1998. She later grew to become the pinnacle swimming coach for the YMCA Green Dolphins Swimming membership in Wausau, Wisconsin. She additionally labored as an assistant swimming coach for the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the place she assisted in recruiting and labored particularly with the dash group.

 

After transferring to the Seacoast space within the early 2000s, Benson grew to become an enormous drive throughout the native swimming neighborhood. She initially coached with the Portsmouth High School swim workforce earlier than launching the Newmarket High School swim program.

 

During her earlier UNH experiences, Benson was a part of the teaching workers for Wildcat groups that featured quite a few America East file holders and NCAA qualifiers together with Amy Perrault and Liza Baykova in addition to UNH Hall of Famer Shannon Daly and Melissa Lague. She additionally coached membership swimming, first with the Exeter Swim workforce, then Commonwealth Current North, previously SOLO Aquatics (SOLO), which presents year-round aggressive swim and dive packages to athletes ages 6 to 21.

 

Benson and her husband Tom have 5 youngsters: Andrew, Amy, Alison, Anika and Ada. Amy is a rising faculty junior and swims for Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, the place she is a Division III All-American. Andrew, whose identify will be discovered on the Swasey Pool file board, simply accomplished his fifth 12 months on the University of Wisconsin, the place he was a three-year NCAA qualifier and two-time Olympic Trials qualifier. Alison is getting into her first 12 months on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and can swim for the Eagles.