The 2025-26 season begins Vance’s eighth season with the Pioneers. Since 2018 the diving program has reached record breaking results.
SHU ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• 2025 MAAC Diving Coach of the YEAR
2022, 2023 & 2024 NEC Women's Diving Coach of the Year
• Earned ECAC Women's Winter Championship Diving Coach of the Meet honors in both 2019 and 2022.
• Coached Lola Barrett to a NEC Diver of the Meet in 2024, where she captured both the one meter and three-meter gold medals, set a new conference record on three meter and became the first diver in SHU history to qualify for NCAA Zones.
• Thirteen of the 15 divers on SHU's all-time top 5 lists were coached by Vance.
• 2019 Molly Martin placed seventh on the three-meter, becoming the first Pioneer since 2010 to place in the top 8 at the NEC Championship.
• Olivia McNicholas 2x NEC Champion, 4x NEC All-Conference Diver. 16x NEC Diver of the Week and Lucy Cox Alumni Award Winner.
Coach Adam saw a record-breaking year, Lola Barret broke 2 pool records as well as 1 school record, Sinclair Yadao won both 1M & 3M Diving at MAAC’s earning her Women’s Diver of the Meet and Rookie Diver of the meet. With a dominant performance on the boards, it earned Coach Adam Vance MAAC Diving Coach of the year, his 4th in a row including the 3 in a row from the NEC. Coach Adam was represented with his 2 divers at Rutgers University in March as they competed at the NCAA zone qualifiers. This qualification as well as their academics earned them CSCAA Scholastic All Americans
Over his tenure with the Pioneers', Vance has been named the 2022, 2023, & 2024 NEC Women's Diving Coach of the Year and is a two-time ECAC Women's Winter Championship Diving Coach of the Meet (2019 & 2022). He has coached 13 of the 15 divers on SHU's all-time top 5 lists in the 1M, 3M, and 1M (5 Vol) dives.
Adam has coached two different student athletes to multiple NEC Diving Championships. Olivia McNicholas was first, winning the 1M in 2022 and 3M in 2023. Olivia was the first SHU diver, since 2010, to capture a gold medal in the one- or three-meter championship. Vance coached Lola Barrett to a double victory in 2024, winning the one- and three-meter diving competitions, setting new school and conference records, and being the first NCAA Zone Championship qualifier in school history.
Vance, a 2010 graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Exercise Science, was a member of the men’s diving team where he was an All-American athlete on the one- and three-meter events. He has over 15 years of coaching experience and has coached athletes of all levels from novice to National level divers. He resides in Shelton, CT with his partner, Tomér, and their dog, Johnny.
