Now in his 21st season at Tufts University, head coach Adam Hoyt and his staff have developed the Jumbo men’s and women’s swimming teams into a pair of the top programs in the nation. Hired in 2004 to replace Hall of Fame men's coach Don Megerle, Hoyt led the Tufts University men's swimming team for 11 seasons and was then promoted to run both the men's and women's programs in 2015.
Last year, the Jumbo teams were both in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships. The Tufts men sent 12 individuals to the 2024 NCAA meet, where the team finished in ninth place for their best showing since 2018. It was the fifth Top-10 finish in the last six NCAA meets for Tufts. Nine Jumbos came home as All-Americans. The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) runner-up as well, the men's team won five events at the conference championships. Tufts' women achieved its third-straight Top 10 finish at the NCAA Championships in 2024. Twelve of the 14 Jumbos who qualified nationally achieved All-American status, leading to a 10th-place NCAA team finish. They were also second in the NESCAC as a team, with two individuals capturing conference titles.
For 2022-23, Hoyt's Tufts women's team won their second straight conference title with a dominating performance. The Jumbos then placed sixth at the NCAA Championships for their best national finish in over 40 years. Tufts won national championships in three events and had 12 women achieve All-American recognition. The men that year had a 10th-place showing at the NCAA meet where eight Jumbos won All-American awards. The Jumbos were a runner-up at the NESCAC Championship in 2023.
Hoyt was the NCAA Division III Women's Co-Coach of the Year and the NESCAC Women's Coach of the Year in 2022 when the Jumbos won Tufts' first-ever women's NESCAC Championship. Continuing their momentum, 13 team members then qualified for NCAA’s, and Tufts won an individual and relay national title. Their seventh-place NCAA finish was the program’s best at the time since the team was sixth in 1982. Ten Jumbos earned All-American awards at the meet. The 2021-22 Jumbo men sent eight swimmers and divers to the NCAA Championships and all came home as All-Americans after helping the team finish in a tie for 21st place. Earlier in the year, Tufts finished as the conference runner-up.
Prior to the 2020-21 season being canceled due to the COVID pandemic, the 2020 NCAA meet was not held. However, the Jumbo men again finished second at the NESCAC Championships that year where they won seven individual and relay titles and set seven new school records. Nine men’s swimmers qualified for the NCAA championship meet, including Gu, who was looking to defend his 50 meter national championship. Thirteen women’s team members were preparing to travel to the 2020 NCAA championship meet when it was canceled. The Tufts women were also the NESCAC team runner-up, won four conference individual and relay titles and set 13 new team records at the 2020 conference meet.
At the 2019 NCAA Division III Championships the Jumbo men finished 10th as a team marking their third straight year in the NCAA top 10. It was their fourth straight season among the top 12 teams in the nation. They featured 11 All-Americans in 2019 and won the program’s first swimming national title since 1982 with Roger Gu taking first in the 50 freestyle. Following the season, Gu posted an Olympic Trials qualifying mark in the 50 freestyle at a club meet. For the women, Tufts had seven All-Americans and broke six school records at the 2019 national meet.
The 2017-18 men's seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championship was the program's best since 1982. The women’s team’s 16th place at the 2019 NCAA Division III Championships was the highest finish for the Jumbos at that time since the team was also 16th in 1990. In 2018 the women had a second-place finish at the NESCAC meet. Amy Socha posted Tufts’ first win at the meet since 2014 in the 200 butterfly. Hoyt was named NESCAC Women’s Co-Coach of the Year, adding to his two previous men’s conference Coach of the Year awards. The Tufts men won the program’s first-ever NESCAC title in 2018.
In addition to their success in the pool, the Tufts teams also perform well academically. Claire Brennan, who won the NCAA 200 freestyle title in 2022 and was also part of Tufts' NCAA 800 and 400 free relay champions, earned Academic All-America® honors in both 2022 and 23. Katelin Isakoff, also part of Tufts' 800 free relay national champs in 2022 and the 400 free relay champs in 2023, was an Academic All-America® selection in 2023. Last season, men's All-American Emmett Adams was named as an Academic All-America®. Colleen Doolan, a 2019 graduate and All-American swimmer, was a top 30 honoree for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, which honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service, and leadership. She is 2023 graduate of the Tufts University School of Medicine.
Coach Hoyt's programs are also actively involved in the community. Men’s and women’s swimming and diving team members have raised more than $100,000 for cancer research as part of Swim Across America. The program has also coordinated a Medford Family Network coat drive and in recent years ran a swim-a-thon involving many Tufts Athletics teams to benefit Puerto Rico hurricane relief efforts.
Hoyt was previously the assistant men's and women's swimming coach at Trinity College from 2001-04. He is a native of Orange, Connecticut and a 2001 graduate of Hamilton College. He and his wife Brooke live in Medford with their daughter Rae and son Jude.
