Jennifer Cournoyer enters her seventh season as the Head Coach of the Norwich University men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams in 2025-26 after elevating the Cadets to the top tier of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).
Cournoyer has orchestrated an era of excellence in the pool, leading Norwich to back-to-back-to-back GNAC Championships in both men's and women's swimming & diving from 2023 to 2025. The 2025 season saw Norwich rewrite the record books, with both programs claiming league crowns for the third straight year. The men dominated with a 472-point showing, while the women totaled 917 points to edge out Simmons and capture the program's first three-peat since 2001.
Individual accolades have also flooded in under Cournoyer's watch. The 2025 championship campaign featured GNAC Swimmer of the Year honors for Kristian Adlianitski, Rookie of the Year accolades for Drew Bylow, and Diver of the Year nods for Reilly Laitala. This came a year after Laitala and Aidan Grady both received Diver of the Year plaudits. Both Laitala and Grady made history by qualifying for the NCAA Diving Regionals in 2024, while Will Thompson and Martin Adlianitski had earned Swimmer of the Year titles in previous seasons. Additionally, 2024 saw standout swimmer Benjamin Stark become Norwich's first-ever GNAC Athlete of the Year for Men's Sports.
In 2023, Cournoyer guided the Cadets to their first men's GNAC title since 2020 and the women's first since 2003. Her coaching staff earned GNAC Men's and Women's Coaching Staff of the Year awards, capping a season filled with breakout performances and championship breakthroughs.
Her first season (2019-20) set the tone for the program's trajectory, with the men capturing a ninth straight GNAC title and the women establishing new program and conference records. At the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA) Championships, the men placed third out of 14, while the women notched their best finish since 2011.
Before arriving in Northfield, Cournoyer spent 16 seasons at the University of Vermont, serving as Associate Head Coach from 2010 to 2019 following earlier roles as assistant and volunteer coach. She also served as head coach at Lock Haven University and King's College in Pennsylvania. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Bloomsburg University in 1995 and completed her M.Ed. at UVM in 2019.
A former NCAA swimmer and team captain at Bloomsburg, Cournoyer continues to stay active in the aquatic community as the Aquatics Director for Goodyear Pool. Her husband, Gerry, is a 1990 Norwich graduate and former NU swimmer.
