University of Vermont Women's Swimming

Cournoyer took over the swimming program in 2000 and inherited a team that had only three combined wins in the five years prior to his arrival. He's been able to build up a winning tradition at UVM, and since 2003-04, he's led the Catamounts to at least seven wins in each season. Cournoyer is the only coach in program history to reach the 100-win plateau with the Catamounts. This past season, Cournoyer led the Catamounts to their best overall record (8-2) since the 1981-82 season, and guided the team to a third-place finish at the America East Championships with a program record 662 team points. Three Catamounts collected all-conference honors at the championships, and Andie Blaser and Maggie Preston each collected individual titles in the 100 fly and 3-meter dive, respectively. In 2013-14, Cournoyer guided Vermont to a 7-7 overall record, which included a first-place finish at the six-team Terrier Invitational hosted by Boston University. Cournoyer collected his 100th career victory with the Catamounts following a sweep of a tri-meet with CCSU and Merrimack. At the America East Championships, the Catamounts scored the second-most points in program history (640), and tied for their best-ever finish at the meet with a third-place showing. Christa Weaver and Ilsa Feierabend collected all-conference honors at the championships. In 2012-13, Cournoyer led the Catamounts to a 9-5 record and a third place finish at the conference championships, which tied for their best finish at the America East Championships in program history. Christa Weaver was named Most Outstanding Rookie at the meet, becoming the second Catamount to win the award in the program's history. Chelsea Krisanda and Kailey Gardner also earned all-conference honors at the championships. Vermont finished with an 8-4 record in 2011-12, and earned a fourth place finish at the America East Championships. During the year, sophomore Claudia Etherington posted one of the top 10 fastest times in the 200 backstroke in the nation. During the 2010-11 season, the Cats went 9-6, posting their sixth straight season of nine wins or more. The Catamounts also ended the season receiving votes in the final CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Dual Meet Poll. The Cats went 10-6 in 2009-10, as senior Molly MacMillan earned her third straight America East Championship in the 1,650 freestyle, while classmate Colleen Clark won the America East Coaches Award, which goes to the senior student-athlete each year who tallied the most points at the conference championship during their four years. MacMillan was second in the standings, only eight points behind her classmate. During the 2008-09 season Vermont went 9-4-1, as the Catamounts had their best finish in school history at the America East Championship, with three individual champions and one relay championship, as well as breaking nearly every school record. During his time at Vermont, Cournoyer has also coached a handful of athletes who have made their mark on the schools record books. The Cats have broke all 21 varsity marks and reestablished three conference records at the league championship in the last five years. A 1990 graduate of Norwich University, Cournoyer has made quite a name for himself in collegiate swimming as one of the bright young coaches in the East. Cournoyer came to UVM in the 2000 after serving as head coach of swimming and diving at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa. for four years. His combined record at Lycoming was 71-42. In his first year at Lycoming, Cournoyer was named MAC Women's Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year after directing the Warriors to a school-record 13 wins in 14 dual meets as well as the program's first-ever conference title. Prior to his stint at Lycoming, Cournoyer was head coach of men's and women's swimming and diving at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts for two years. He led the Bridgewater men's team to an 11-0 record in his final season and an 11th-place finish in the 26-team New England Championships. His combined record at Bridgewater State was 33-14. Cournoyer's final season at Bridgewater was highlighted by the women's team finishing 9-5 to post its first winning record in eight years. Prior to coming to Vermont, Cournoyer had posted a combined record of 104-56 in his five seasons as a head coach. A native of Cumberland, Rhode Island, Cournoyer was a letter winner in swimming at Norwich. He was selected to the Rhode Island Aquatic Hall of Fame class of 2006 and earned his Masters in Education from UVM in 2009.  

Fenton-Cournoyer was promoted to associate head coach in September of 2010. Fenton-Cournoyer, a 1995 graduate of Bloomsburg University, started off as a volunteer assistant coach at UVM in August of 2003. Before that, she was the head coach of the women's swimming team at Lock Haven University, where she also served as an assistant coach. Fenton-Cournoyer also was the head coach of men's and women's swimming teams at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Penn. in 1997-98. "Jennifer's experience and knowledge of swimming provides a huge plus for the student-athletes, and we are thrilled to have her," head coach Gerry Cournoyer said.

Seward joined the staff on May 2, 2011. At the 2014-15 America East Championships, Seward helped guide Maggie Preston to the America East title in the 3-meter diving event as she became the first-ever Catamount to collect the Most Outstanding Diver award. I am very pleased and excited that Cathy has been named our diving coach," said head coach Gerry Cournoyer. "Cathy comes to Vermont with a wealth of knowledge and great personal experience as a diver herself. I feel that she can help take our program to the next level. Seward is a 1977 graduate of Bucknell University, where she was an All-American (small college division) diver for both the one and three meter events as a senior. She was inducted into the Bucknell Hall of Fame in 1993 and also was the diving coach at Saint Michael's for 13 seasons before joining the Catamounts.