Coaching Experience
• Head Coach, Cornell University (2015-present)
• Assistant Coach, Cornell University (2009-15)
Honors and Accomplishments
• Swimmers he has coached have posted 131 individual and 42 relay times that rank in the top 10 all-time at Cornell.
• Newman's student-athletes have broken 12 individual and all five relay school records under his guidance.
• Coached five-time NCAA All-American and eight-time Ivy champion Alex Evdokimov.
• Guided freshman Paige daCosta to the program's first 100 Backstroke Ivy League title in school history in 2019-20.
• Helped junior Joseph Gurski to first Big Red 100 Butterfly Ivy League title since 1992.
• Inducted into Cornell's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.
Competitive Experience
• Cornell University (2005-09)
• Three-time Eastern champion
• Two-time NCAA qualifier
• Set five individual and four school relay records
• 2008 Canadian Olympic Trials finalist in two events
Education
• B.S., Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University (2009)
• M.S., Coaching and Athletic Administration, Concordia University Irvine (2015)
At Cornell
After five successful years poolside for the Big Red as an assistant coach, former Cornell swimming great Wes Newman '09 was named The Philip H. Bartels '71 Head Coach of Men's Swimming in April 2015. He had returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's teams in July of 2009 and was promoted to Associate Head Coach in July of 2014.
Cornell's 2023-24 season saw a lockdown performance at Teagle Pool, as the Big Red swept all three of its home meets. The Big Red also took home its first Zippy Invitational crown since 2019 by 153.5 points over UC Santa Barbara. Joseph Gurski '25 made history under Newman by becoming the first Big Red men's swimmer to win the 100 Butterfly in 32 years at the Ivy League Championships to grab first team All-Ivy honors and break his program record. Julian Correa '27 earned second team All-Ivy with his runner-up spot in the 400 IM. Gurski (200 Butterfly), Pietro Ubertalli '26 (200 Backstroke), and Sebastian Wolff '25 (400 IM) also clocked new program bests at Ivies. In total, 47 new top 10 times and seven program records were set under Newman's watch.
The 2022-23 season saw the best road record of any season under Newman, when the team won three of its four away meets. Under Newman, 42 new top 10 times were swam, including six new school records. Sebastian Wolff earned second-team All-Ivy honors at the 2023 Ivy League Championship with his school-record breaking swim in the 100 Freestyle.
In the 2019-20 season, Newman's squad set seven school records (four individual, three relays) en route to a sixth place Ivy League Championship finish. Freshman Paige daCosta accounted for nearly half of these, breaking the 100 Backstroke, 200 IM, and 400 IM school records in what was a standout freshman season. Under Newman's guidance, daCosta became Cornell men's swimming and diving's first 100 Backstroke Ivy League Champion in program history, also finishing as the runner-up in the 200 Backstroke and 200 IM at the championship meet.
James Huang set a school record of his own, besting Newman's previous 200 Butterfly mark to set a new program-best. While Cornell's all-time top 10 list was largely re-written across the board during the 2019-20 season, Newman's 200 Breaststroke and 400 IM event groups excelled, each securing five of the ten-fastest times in Big Red history in those respective events.
Newman directed the Big Red to consecutive fifth place finishes at the Ivy League championships in his first two seasons at the helm, the highest finishes for the program since 2009. Five-time All-American Alex Evdokimov, the Ivy League record holder in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke, won the 100-200 Breast double at the conference meet in each of his four seasons and was named the Charles H. Moore Senior Athlete of the Year at Cornell in 2018. Evdokimov and Luke Reisch (100 Butterfly), competed at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.
In just eight seasons, 131 individual swims and 42 relay times have transformed the Cornell history book, ranking among the top 10 all-time. Included among them are 12 individual and all five relay school record marks. Newman himself set five individual records, two of which (200 Freestyle, 500 Freestyle) still stand to this day. The other three have been broken by Newman's student-athletes at least once-over, first as Jack Mahoney broke Newman's 100 Freestyle and 100 Butterfly school records in 2019 and Huang bested his 200 Butterfly mark in 2020.
With Newman's help, Cornell has won six meet championships – the 2015, 2017 and 2018 Bomber Invitationals, along with Akron's Zippy Invitational in 2016, 2019, and 2023. The Big Red has gone 14-1 in non-conference dual meets during his tenure, including extending the program’s streak of consecutive non-league wins to 14 before it was broken in 2017-18.
As Assistant Coach
Newman helped the Cornell men to a 13-6 dual meet record in his first two campaigns on the sidelines in 2009-10 and 2010-11, pushing the team to a pair of third place finishes in the Ancient Eight. In total, 66 swimmers on the school's all-time top-10 list competed during Newman's stay. All 10 of the top-10 200 butterfly swimmers in Cornell history were either Newman, a protege of Newman's, or a former teammate of Newman's.
He also assisted in the renaissance of the women's program, helping the Big Red to a 4-3 Ivy record in 2013-14, just the second winning park in program history (1991-92). The women matched their win total in conference action from its first four years with Newman on the staff, showing the significant strides that had been made. In the eight years prior to his arrival, women's swimming and diving had won just four Ivy duals.
Swimming Career
The Canadian Olympic Trials participant and NCAA qualifier rewrote the Big Red record book during his four-year varsity career, graduating as one of the school's most decorated swimmers. A three-time Eastern champion, Newman held five individual and four school relay records at the time of his graduation. He swam on five Eastern champion relay teams during his career as well.
Newman qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200 free in 2007 and 2009 and finished in the top five at the 2008 Canadian Olympic Trials in two events (fourth in the 400 Free, fifth in the 100 Butterfly). A two-year team captain and the winner of the 2008 Richie Moran Award at Cornell, he was voted the team's most valuable performer in each of his four seasons. Newman was a catalyst for the program's undefeated 2007 dual meet season, as well as its third-place finish at the 2009 Ivy Championship meet. He was elected to the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.
Out of the pool, Newman was just as impressive. He served as Treasurer of the Red Key Athletic Honor Society and tutored Ithaca HS students as part of the Dufree Tutoring Program. A Dean's List student, Newman was an NSCAA Scholastic All-American in 2009 and an honorable mention Scholastic All-American as a junior. Newman captured the Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Leadership Award, which is given to Cornell's senior student-athlete who best embodies leadership, athleticism, and a strong work ethic. He graduated in 2009 with a degree in Applied Economics and Management and earned his master's in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University Irvine in 2015.
Personal
Wes and his wife Ashleigh have two daughters, Alice and Quinn. His wife is a former member of the Big Red women’s swimming program. His older brother, Brad, was also a swimmer on the Big Red varsity team.
* Updated April 2024
