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Head Coach John Taffe
 John Taffe will be entering his 18th season as the head coach of the men's and women's swimming teams at Springfield College. He also serves as an assistant professor of physical education.
Under Taffe’s leadership, the Pride has returned to its status as one of the best collegiate swimming and diving programs in Division III. SC won it’s sixth consecutive New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship in 2006 and finished 25th at the NCAA Division III Championships. Nine Pride squads have finished among the top 20 teams in Division III over the past 11 years. The 2005 team placed ninth at the NCAA Div. III Championships at Hope College in Holland, Mich. The ninth-place finish was the highest ever recorded by an SC team.
Taffe has coached countless NCAA All-Americans and conference champions at Springfield College. In 1991 and 1994, he received the Charles E. Silva Award as the New England Men's Coach of the Year, and was named the New England Women's Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1998. He also received NEWMAC Women’s Coach of the Year recognition for four straight years from 2001 to 2005.
Taffe served as the head coach for the Netherlands-Antilles squad at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, coaching SC All-American Howard Hinds, a 2000 graduate.
Prior to joining the Springfield College staff in 1989, Taffe served as the men's and women's coach at Mount Union College in Ohio for one season and head women's coach at East Carolina University for two seasons.
A native of Haverhill, Mass., Taffe attended the University of Rhode Island, where he was a five-time New England swimming champion as well as a two-time All-New England water polo selection for the Rams.
Taffe received his bachelor’s degree in physical education from URI in 1985 and his master’s degree in education from East Carolina in 1988. Taffe graduated from Haverhill High School in 1980 and was a member of the 1978 squad that captured the state swimming crown.
Head Diving Coach Peter Avdoulos
 Peter Avdoulos is regarded as one of the top diving coaches in the nation. The 1985 Springfield College graduate is in his 22nd season as the diving coach for both the men's and women's programs at his alma mater.
Avdoulos was a standout diver as an undergraduate and received the Charles Batterman Award as the top New England performer over a four-year period.
Avdoulos has coached numerous All-New England and All-American divers, including eight-time All-American Lindsay Moore, the Division III Women’s Diver of the Year in 2002, who won a national championship on the one-meter board and finished second on the three-meter board at the 2002 NCAA Division III Championships. In 2003, senior Alison Mellage earned her seventh and eighth career All-America honors, finishing fourth in the one-meter dive and fifth on the three-meter board. The 2001 national champion on the three-meter board, Mellage was also named the NEWMAC Diver of the Year in 2003 after sweeping both diving events at the conference meet.
On the men’s side, Avdoulos coached four-time All-American Mike Shaw, the first SC male diver to win a national title. In 2005, Shaw won the national championship in both events and was named the NCAA Division III National Diver of the Year.
Avdoulos has been the NCAA Division III Women’s Diving Coach of the Year four times in the last decade. In 2005, Avdoulos was named the NCAA Division III Men’s Diving Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year, an honor he also received in 2003. He has been selected as the New England Diving Coach of the Year eight times since 1991, and was named the NEWMAC Men’s and Women’s Diving Coach of the Year for the 2002-2003 season. He was also named the Men’s Coach of the year in 2005 and 2006.
Assistant Coaches
SC welcomes three new graduate assistants to the coaching staff this season. Mike Shaw ’06 rejoins the team after establishing himself as the top diver in school history at SC. His resume includes three national titles, three national runner-up finishes, eight All-America honors, and four consecutive conference diver of the year awards. Beth DeLaRosby comes to the Pride after serving as the assistant coach at Wheaton College last year. A 2005 graduate of Gustavus Adolphus University, DeLaRosby was a 23-time Division III All-American. Lauren Briggs, a 2004 graduate of the University of Massachusetts, was a top performer for the Minutewomen in the I.M. and the butterfly.
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