Leslie Whittemore, a familiar face around SCIAC swimming and diving circles, enters her first season as the associate head coach of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps program in 2025-26.Â
Whittemore spent 21 seasons as the head coach of the swimming and diving program at the University of Redlands, over two different stints, helping Redlands to a combined 10 SCIAC Championships.
Whittemore first took over the Redlands program in 1996, and led the Bulldogs to unprecedented success. She guided the men's team to seven straight SCIAC men's championships from 2001-07 for a program that had won only one title in its prior history.Â
The women's program, meanwhile, also captured titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002, the only three titles in program history, resulting in two seasons when Redlands swept both men's and women's championships. The women also had six runner-up finishes during her tenure, while the men came in second four times.
Whittemore also served as the associate director of athletics at Redlands while coaching from 1998-2006, when she created and implemented the eligibility and compliance protocols for the Department of Athletics, including but not limited to grade reports, roster management, transfer student-athlete certification, and rules education for coaches and student-athletes.
In 2010, Whittemore stepped down from her coaching position, but returned to Redlands in 2013 as the assistant director of athletics, serving as the eligibility and compliance coordinator. She then took over the coaching helm for the swimming and diving program again in 2015, serving for seven more years until 2022.Â
Whittemore graduated from Redlands with a bachelor's degree in psychology and a minor in physical education, and earned her master's degree from Redlands in education counseling. She has also served as an NCAA Water Polo Collegiate Championship Rules Committee member.
