Princeton University Athletics

Joe Acquaviva
Joe Acquaviva Joins Women’s Swimming & Diving As Assistant Coach
September 10, 2025 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Joe Acquaviva has joined the Princeton women's swimming & diving team as an assistant coach as announced by head Coach Abby Brethauer.
"I am thrilled to welcome Joe to the Tiger family and can't wait for him to get started with us," Brethauer said. "Having had the privilege of working with him at Tufts, I know firsthand the passion, intelligence, and energy he brings to the pool deck and I am excited for our women to have the opportunity to work with him. Joe's background as an elite swimmer at Johns Hopkins, combined with his experience as a head coach, makes him uniquely well-suited for this role, and I couldn't be more excited for what lies ahead."
Acquaviva joins the Tigers following three seasons as Franklin & Marshall's head men's and women's swimming coach.
Acquaviva found immediate success at Franklin & Marshall as he led the men to an 8-1 dual record before an eventual third place finish at the Centennial Conference Championships. The women's team went 7-3 during his inaugural season and captured fourth place at the conference championship meet. Acquaviva came to F&M after record-breaking five seasons as the head assistant and associate head coach at Tufts University.
In the 2023-24 season, Acquaviva coached his first national qualifiers for the Diplomats in Sam Kamdin, Matt Hurford, John Devaney and Ben Lockey. The quartet claimed All-American honors in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Acquaviva was elevated to the associate head coach of the Tufts swimming programs prior to the 2021-22 season and promptly helped the women's team to its first-ever NESCAC Championship and program-record seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships. The team's finish at the NCAA Championships helped Tufts capture its first-ever Learfield Directors' Cup Championship as the most successful athletic department in Division III. He was also on staff for the men's team when it won its first NESCAC Championship during the 2017-18 season and achieved a program-best seventh place finish at the Division III Championships that same year.
Prior to joining the Tufts coaching staff, Acquaviva spent one season as an assistant coach at his alma mater – Johns Hopkins. During his six combined seasons as an assistant coach, Acquaviva mentored over 200 All-Americans, seven national champions, one national record holder, an NCAA Division III Swimmer of the Year, and two representatives at both the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Summer Olympics.
A 2014 graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Acquaviva was a four-year letter winner and team captain as a senior for the Blue Jays. During his competitive career, he was 10-time All-American, a College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-American, and an NCAA national champion as part of the 800 freestyle relay. In the year following his graduation, Acquaviva was on staff when the program had one NCAA Postgraduate Scholar and NCAA Elite 89 Award recipient. During that same year, Acquaviva obtained his master's degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Before joining the coaching ranks full time, Acquaviva spent two years as a water polo coach at the club and high school levels with the William Penn Charter School. In addition to the teams finishing with some of the highest point totals in the school's illustrious history at the Eastern Championships, they were also home to the 2016-2017 Male High School Swimmer of the Year. Acquaviva has also coached at the Plymouth and Ply-Mar Swim clubs since June of 2011.
"I am thrilled to welcome Joe to the Tiger family and can't wait for him to get started with us," Brethauer said. "Having had the privilege of working with him at Tufts, I know firsthand the passion, intelligence, and energy he brings to the pool deck and I am excited for our women to have the opportunity to work with him. Joe's background as an elite swimmer at Johns Hopkins, combined with his experience as a head coach, makes him uniquely well-suited for this role, and I couldn't be more excited for what lies ahead."
Acquaviva joins the Tigers following three seasons as Franklin & Marshall's head men's and women's swimming coach.
Acquaviva found immediate success at Franklin & Marshall as he led the men to an 8-1 dual record before an eventual third place finish at the Centennial Conference Championships. The women's team went 7-3 during his inaugural season and captured fourth place at the conference championship meet. Acquaviva came to F&M after record-breaking five seasons as the head assistant and associate head coach at Tufts University.
In the 2023-24 season, Acquaviva coached his first national qualifiers for the Diplomats in Sam Kamdin, Matt Hurford, John Devaney and Ben Lockey. The quartet claimed All-American honors in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Acquaviva was elevated to the associate head coach of the Tufts swimming programs prior to the 2021-22 season and promptly helped the women's team to its first-ever NESCAC Championship and program-record seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships. The team's finish at the NCAA Championships helped Tufts capture its first-ever Learfield Directors' Cup Championship as the most successful athletic department in Division III. He was also on staff for the men's team when it won its first NESCAC Championship during the 2017-18 season and achieved a program-best seventh place finish at the Division III Championships that same year.
Prior to joining the Tufts coaching staff, Acquaviva spent one season as an assistant coach at his alma mater – Johns Hopkins. During his six combined seasons as an assistant coach, Acquaviva mentored over 200 All-Americans, seven national champions, one national record holder, an NCAA Division III Swimmer of the Year, and two representatives at both the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Summer Olympics.
A 2014 graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Acquaviva was a four-year letter winner and team captain as a senior for the Blue Jays. During his competitive career, he was 10-time All-American, a College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-American, and an NCAA national champion as part of the 800 freestyle relay. In the year following his graduation, Acquaviva was on staff when the program had one NCAA Postgraduate Scholar and NCAA Elite 89 Award recipient. During that same year, Acquaviva obtained his master's degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Before joining the coaching ranks full time, Acquaviva spent two years as a water polo coach at the club and high school levels with the William Penn Charter School. In addition to the teams finishing with some of the highest point totals in the school's illustrious history at the Eastern Championships, they were also home to the 2016-2017 Male High School Swimmer of the Year. Acquaviva has also coached at the Plymouth and Ply-Mar Swim clubs since June of 2011.
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