Colorado College Athletics

Former Olympic and NCAA Division I head coach and current Colorado College assistant men's and women's swimming coach Jen Buffin was named head coach for both swimming and diving programs on May 14, 2024.
 
Buffin replaced Anne Goodman James, who retired following the 2023-24 season after 18 years at CC and 48 as an NCAA head coach across all three divisions.

To say her first season was successful would be an understatement. Buffin led the men's swimming and diving team to their first-ever Southern Collegiate Athletic Confererence title and CC was named the SCAC Men's Coaching Staff of the Year. Buffin guided the Tigers to seven individual and three relay titles at the SCAC meet and Wyatt Wellehan was named the conference's Diver of the Meet and Diver of the Year.

The women's team finished second at the SCAC Championships for the third consecutive year and captured three individual titles, including Emma Krasemann, who won the 3-meter event and was named the league's Diver of the Meet and Diver of the Year.
 
Buffin joined the Tiger staff in 2022 as an assistant coach and had an immediate impact on the program, helping Kate Brush earn a pair of Division III All-America honors in 2023 and both teams to a second-place finish at the SCAC Championships each season. The Tigers have posted 19 school records since Buffin joined the coaching staff.
 
Prior to her tenure at CC, Buffin collected extensive international experience, including a stint as the Philippines National Team Coach during the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, as well as the 2015 World Championships and Southeast Asian Games. At the SEA Games in Singapore, she guided the Philippine team to a pair of silver medals, nine bronze medals and eight national records.
 
Following her tenure with the Philippine National Team, Buffin served as the head coach of the women's swimming team at Oregon State for three seasons. She led the Beavers to a school record in the 50 freestyle and multiple top 16 finishes at the PAC-12 Championships, and coached Felicia Anderson, who qualified for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials.
 
Prior to joining the Oregon State program, Buffin served as the associate head men's and women's swimming and diving coach at the University of Hawai'i for 10 years. The Rainbow Wahine and Rainbow Warriors captured two conference titles combined during her tenure.
 
While at Hawai'i, Buffin worked closely with Filipino swimmer Jasmine Alkhaldi, who competed for the Philippines in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. Alkhaldi set four national records and collected three bronze medals under Buffin's tutelage at the 2015 SEA Games.
 
Buffin's collegiate record includes 25 NCAA qualifiers, more than 100 conference champions and a two-time Olympian.
 
Most recently, Buffin was a volunteer assistant coach for the women's swimming and diving program at the Air Force Academy (2020-21) and also coached at New Mexico State (2019-20) and San Jose State (2001-05).
 
Buffin earned her bachelor's degree in environmental science in 2002 from San Jose State, and a master's in kinesiology with an emphasis in coaching from Georgia Southern University in 2021.
 
Buffin and her partner, Tim McKenzie, have two dogs, Ella and Lena.