Princeton University Athletics
Men's Swimming and Diving
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- crispino@princeton.edu
- Phone:
- 609-258-3544
Matt Crispino has a resume that is loaded with team and individual championships and a commitment to the educational and leadership values that athletics provides. That combination has given him the opportunity to fill the very large flip-flops left on the deck at DeNunzio Pool.
The 2025-26 season was one of the most successful in program history as Crispino led the Tigers to an undefeated record, 11 straight victories, Big Al Invitational and Ivy League titles, a program-best No. 18 CSCAA Dual Meet Ranking, and 14 All-Ivy honors. Princeton also swept the Ivy League High Point awards, with Mitchell Schott earning High Point Swimmer of the Meet honors for the second straight season and Aidan Wang being named High Point Diver of the Meet for the third time. At the NCAA Championships, the Tigers placed 22nd nationally, the program's best finish since 2012 and highest point total since 1990. Schott became Princeton's first NCAA A-finalist since 2012 and earned First Team All-America honors, while Patrick Dinu and the record-setting 400-yard freestyle relay team also garnered All-America recognition.
The 2024-25 season saw Crispino guide the Tigers to a 10-1 overall record, Ivy League Dual Meet Championship, Big Al Invitational title, and Ivy League Championship while climbing to No. 23 in the CSCAA Dual Meet Rankings and earning seven All-Ivy honors.
2023-24 saw the Tigers again featured in the CSCAA Dual Meet Rankings, rising as high as No. 24 in February and win the Ivy League Dual Meet Championship. Crispino also led the Tigers to a close second-place finish at the Ivy League Championships, an 8-3 overall record and All-Ivy League honors in eight events. In the swimming events, First Team honorees included John Ehling in the 1000 freestyle and Noah Sech in the 400 IM while Ehling (500 freestyle) and Tyler Hong (200 IM) collected Second Team honors.
In 2022-23, Crispino guided Princeton to a program-best No. 24 in the final CSCAA Dual Meet Rankings, which marked the first time the Tigers had ended the season in the national top-25. He also led Princeton to a third-straight second-place finish at the Ivy League Championships along with four event championships. Raunak Khosla would add three more All-America honors, and earn a third Ivy League High Point Swimmer of the Meet award.
The 2021-22 season saw the Tigers earn a second-straight second-place finish at the Ivy League Championships, with Raunak Khosla repeating as High Point Swimmer of the Meet. The Tigers won four event titles, and earned 14 All-Ivy honors. Under Crispino's tutelage, Khosla collected All-America honors in three events.
In his first season with the Tigers, Crispino helped guide Princeton to a second-place finish at the Ivy League Championships. Princeton won six event titles and Raunak Khosla was honored as High Point Swimmer of the Meet. Under Crispino's guidance, Princeton's swimmers earned eight All-Ivy selections. On the season, the Tigers went 7-3 and 5-2 in Ivy League meets.
Crispino, who built William & Mary swimming and diving into a Colonial Athletic Association powerhouse while serving as a driving force in the campus community and having his athletes earn overwhelming success in the classroom, was hired as the head men's swimming and diving coach at Princeton University, Ford Family Director of Athletics Mollie Marcoux Samaan announced on May 16, 2019. Crispino replaced Rob Orr, who retired after 40 years with the Tigers.
The successes that Crispino's Tribe teams have had have been staggering.
Under his leadership of both programs, William & Mary won the last five CAA men's championships through 2019 while adding women's championships in 2016 and 2017. All 19 men's program records have been broken within the final eight years of his tenure, and Tribe men's swimmers set and then broken 119 individual or relay records on his watch.
There were 76 CAA men's and 40 CAA women's individual or team champions in his tenure. He coached 96 percent of William & Mary's top-10 performances and 2,351 lifetime best performances.
He was the CAA Coach of the Year seven times (six for the men, one for the women) while coaching three CAA Swimmers of the Year, nine CAA Rookies of the Year, seven league championship Most Outstanding Performers and 10 Olympic Trials qualifiers.
Adding to that in-pool success were 26 CSCAA Scholar All-Americas, two CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees, eight CAA Swimming and Diving Scholar Athletes of the Year (two of whom won the CAA award for all sports) and five Phi Beta Kappa inductees.
He was also the founding member of the William & Mary Hazing Prevention Coalition and the organizer of a fund drive that raised nearly $15,000 per year for cancer research through an open water swim event. Most recently, he was a recipient of W&M's Plumeri Award for outstanding achievements in teaching, research and service to the William & Mary community, making him the first member of the athletic department to be so honored.
Crispino is a 2002 William & Mary graduate with a degree in government. He was the team MVP and co-captain his senior year, and he was part of the school record for the 800 freestyle that stood for 10 years. He was also a CAA Scholar-Athlete himself and the W&M President's Award winner.
He began his coaching career while earning a master's degree in physical education with a concentration in sport management at Florida State and then moved on to serve as an assistant coach at Army West Point and Colgate before becoming the Director of Swimming at his alma mater in 2007.
Crispino's wife Liz is a former Tribe swimmer and CAA 100 and 200 butterfly champion. They are the parents of three daughters – Lydia, Caroline, and Audrey.
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