Marc Benvenuti is entering his 23rd season as head coach of the Connecticut College men's swimming and diving program in 2024-25. He also serves as the director of the aquatics program at Conn College, and for 21 years he served as head coach of the women's swimming and diving program.
Since Benvenuti's arrival in 2002, the Camel swimming programs have consistently been among Conn's strongest programs in the prestigious New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) each year and are regularly ranked among the top 25 teams in the country.
Under Benvenuti’s tutelage, the Camel men have scored at the NCAA Championships 16 times overall and in 12 consecutive years between 2007 and 2018. The team most notably registered a top-25 finish in five straight seasons between 2012 and 2016, which was highlighted by a program-best 12th-place performance in 2014. The Camels have placed third four times at the NESCAC Championships, and have also finished among the top five 13 times over the last 18 years at the conference’s championship event.
A number of Camels have thrived under Benvenuti's watch. In addition to numerous All-NESCAC and All-America honorees, the program has produced three individual NCAA national championships. Justin Finkel won national titles in the 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly in 2024, and Sam Gill was finished as co-national champion in the 100 backstroke in 2014.
The Camel women were equally impressive during Benvenuti’s tenure. The team scored 14 times at the NCAA Championships and peaked in 2017 by placing 10th in the country. Mary Erb also won the title in the 200-yard breaststroke and became the first freshman in any varsity sport to be crowned a national champion at the institution in 2017. On the conference level, the Camels placed third at the NESCAC Championships in 2017 and 2018 and finished among the league’s top five in the standings 10 times. Kate Kovenock also became the first student-athlete in any sport to win a national title when she captured the 50 free in 2004.
Outside of the pool, Benvenuti’s programs have consistently been named CSCAA Scholar All-America Teams for registering a team GPA of a 3.0 or better. The women posted an eye-opening 3.91 team GPA during the 2020 spring semester, while the men were also impressive by notching a 3.65 team GPA in spring 2024. Both marks were program bests during Benvenuti’s long tenure.
Furthermore, Benvenuti has mentored six student-athletes who have combined to win seven CoSIDA Academic All-America awards, a list that includes Kovenock (2004, 2005), Sarah Murphy (2011), Olivia Haskell (2019), Maddie Ford (2020), Vaughn Ammon (2023) and Finkel (2024). All in all, Benvenuti has overseen the training and development of more Academic All-Americans than any coach for any sport in school history at Connecticut College.
Benvenuti, who has been recognized as the NESCAC Coach of the Year six times, joined Connecticut College after serving as the lead assistant coach at Princeton University. At Princeton, he was responsible for the sprint program and contributed to a Tiger squad that posted a lofty 17-2 mark in the Ivy League. Four of his swimmers advanced to the NCAA Championships, and one of them qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
A native of nearby Waterford, Connecticut, Benvenuti earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and environmental studies from Tufts University in 1996. As one of the most successful Jumbo swimmers, he was a five-time All-American who set several school records which stood for many years after his graduation.
