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Women's Swimming & Diving
- Title:
- Mary Ann Lippitt Women's Swimming/Diving Coaching Chair
- Phone:
- 401-863-5399
- Email:
- Kate_Kovenock@brown.edu
- Joined Brown:
- 2014
- Alma Mater:
- Connecticut College '05
Kate Kovenock was named the Mary Ann Lippitt Women's Swimming & Diving Coaching Chair in 2014.
Brown women’s swimming & diving has seen a significant resurgence in the time since Kovenock’s arrival on College Hill. Through her nine seasons at Brown, Kovenock has guided three student-athletes to four Ivy League titles and twelve student-athletes to CSCAA Honorable Mention All-American honors. To date, the student-athletes swimming under Kovenock now account for 72% of the program’s All-Time Top 10 performers and have broken and re-broken 17 different school records a total of 45 times.
In 2021-22 Kovenock coached Jenna Reznicek to an NCAA Championship appearance in the 100 backstroke. It was the first NCAA qualifier for Brown since 2004.
Kovenock led the Bears to a fourth place finish at the Ivy League Championships in 2019 and 2023, the program's best finishes since 2005. In 2018, Brown women’s swimming & diving recorded the program’s first back-to-back winning Ivy League dual meet records since the 2006 season.
Brown swimmers & divers have thrived in the classroom as well, earning CSCAA Scholar All-American team accolades twelve times, which included earning the nation’s top GPA in the spring of 2017 and the Ivy League’s top GPA in the fall of 2016, the spring of 2017, the fall of 2017, the fall of 2018, and the spring of 2023.
Prior to taking the helm at Brown, Kovenock spent five seasons as the women’s assistant swimming coach at the University of Notre Dame. Working in tandem with head coach Brian Barnes, the Irish earned back-to-back program high finishes at the NCAA Championship in 2013 and 2014 NCAA Championships, recording a total of 16 All-American performances along the way. Kovenock also had a hand in developing Notre Dame’s first National Champion and American record holder in swimming, Emma Reaney. Reaney, who entered Notre Dame as a 2:15.84 200 Breaststroker won the event at the 2014 NCAA Championships, resetting her own American record (2:04.06) which she had set for the first time just weeks before at the ACC Conference Championships. Notre Dame’s academic success thrived during this time as the team and individuals garnered CSCAA Scholar All-American status in all five seasons.
Kovenock’s coaching career began with a four-year stint as the men’s and women’s assistant swimming coach at Kenyon College (Fall 2005 - Spring 2009). On deck at Kenyon, Kovenock worked under legendary head coach Jim Steen who gave her specific training responsibilities with the men's and women's sprint groups. During that time, the sprint group was a significant part of Kenyon’s NCAA dominance. On the women’s side, a Kenyon swimmer won the NCAA Championship title in the 50 Freestyle twice (2007, 2009) and broke the NCAA Record in that event once (2009). In addition to her coaching duties, Kovenock served as the recruiting coordinator for the women’s program. After back-to-back NCAA runner-up finishes in 2005 and 2006, the swimmers recruited during Kovenock's tenure sparked a new era for the women's program, playing key roles in restarting the women’s NCAA Championship streak. In total during Kovenock’s time at Kenyon, the women's program won three NCAA Championships (2007, 2008, 2009), the men's program won four NCAA Champions (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) with Kenyon men and women earning over 240 All-American awards in NCAA competition in the process.
As a student-athlete at Connecticut College, Kovenock captured an individual NCAA Championship in the 50 free (2004) and earned 11 individual NCAA All-American awards (2002 - 2005). At the conference level, she went undefeated in the 50 and 100 freestyle events over her four years. Kovenock's collegiate career was marked by academic accolades as well. Graduating with a B.A. in honors philosophy, Kovenock was selected to the CSCAA Scholar All-America team during each of her four years and was named to the prestigious CoSIDA Academic All-America Team during both her junior and senior campaigns.
Through her career, Kovenock has been named to The Maine Principals’ Association’s Hall of Excellence (2022), Maine Swimming Hall of Fame (2020), Connecticut College Athletics Hall of Fame (2013)
