Jim Dailey enters his 31st season as head coach of the Lafayette swimming and diving program.
Dailey served as the interim coach during the 1993-94 campaign and was an assistant coach from 1991-93. He became the Leopards' 12th head coach in program history. In 2006, Dailey was named Patriot League Women's Swimming Coach of the Year.
Since taking over at Lafayette, Dailey has guided the Leopards to a total of 35 individual Patriot League titles and has had a total of 23 men and 20 women selected to the All-Patriot League team. Four of his men were on the Patriot League All-Decade team. Since 1992 several milestones have been broken by his swimmers/divers. In 2025, the team broke 22 total records and divers Landon Orth and Shaylee Daniels made the NCAA Division I Zone A Diving Championships. In 2024, Orth made the NCAA Division I Zone A Diving Championships.
Swimmer Michael Gorgan made the NCAA Division I B standards in the 100 breaststroke in 2022. In 2016, swimmer Greg Grewal made the NCAA Division I B standards in both breaststroke events and swam in the US Olympic Trials that same year. In 2009, diver Kevin Oswalt made the NCAA Zone A Division I Diving Championships. In 1992, swimmer Andrew Rutherfurd finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke at the NCAA Championships.
Displaying a constant commitment to academics and athletics, his women's program has been named to the CSCAA Scholar All American list 63 of the last 65 semesters, while the men have made the list 61 times during that same period. His student-athletes regularly are awarded for their excellence during Lafayette College Honors Convocation and are routinely nominees for prestigious national recognition. The team and student-athletes within the program have been awarded the Pepper Prize, NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, NCAA Graduation Success Rates top 10% recognition, NCAA Woman of The Year nominee and NCAA Walter Byers' Scholarship nominee.
A 1989 graduate of the State University of New York at Cortland with a BS in environmental science/geology. Dailey was a two-time qualifier for NCAA Division III Nationals. In 1992 he earned his master’s degree in secondary education from Lehigh University.
In his off time, Dailey is also an Assistant Scoutmaster within the Minsi Trails Council and on staff for many of the leadership training courses within Boy Scouts of America. Dailey is an outdoor enthusiast enjoying fly fishing, camping and hunting. He and his wife Brenda have identical twins, James and Alexander. Both are decorated Eagle Scouts. His son James, is a 2022 graduate of Lafayette with a bachelor of science degree in environmental science.
Updated 4/3/2025
