Colgate University Athletics

Colgate Vice President and Director of Athletics Dr. Nicki W. Moore announced the selection of Edward Pretre as the new swimming and diving head coach in May 2019.

Despite the abbreviated season, Pretre guided both programs to successful seasons in his second year at the helm. The women’s swimming & diving team was highlighted by six broken records, including three freshman records and three new pool records. After the Patriot League Championships were cancelled, Colgate had a strong showing at the Patriot League Challenge meet against Boston University and Holy Cross, as well as a good performance at the April Pools Invitational. On the men’s side, the Raiders had a stellar season with a sixth-place finish at the April Pools Invitational and a third-place showing at the Patriot League Challenge meet.
 
In his first season with Colgate, he helped lead both programs to successful seasons. The women’s swimming & diving team finished the 2019-20 season with a 3-5 record which was highlighted by wins against Niagra and Canisius. The Raiders had a strong finish to the season as Pretre picked up his first Patriot League win on the women’s side as Colgate defeated Lafayette. The Raiders placed seventh at the Patriot League Championships with a team score of 168 points. On the men’s side, the Raiders 2019-20 season was highlighted by a strong performance against Niagra and a 10th-place finish at the Patriot League Championships.

Before Colgate 
Pretre comes to the Raiders from Villanova, where he spent the last two seasons serving as an assistant coach on an award-winning Big East Conference staff. Villanova swept the league's Coach/Staff of the Year awards on both the men's and women's side in 2018, and the women's staff repeated the honor this season.
 
He coached two Big East Swimmers of the Year in Darby Goodwin and Kelly Montesi, as well as 12 individual conference champions, resulting in 10 school records. The men's team in 2018 had its highest finish (second) since 1993, while the women won their sixth consecutive Big East title.
 
Pretre considers himself a builder of programs, and he did just that as head coach of Division II Truman State in Missouri. In 2016, the Truman women won the 2016 Great Lakes Valley Conference championship by upsetting top-seeded and No. 2 nationally ranked Drury.
 
For that result and his season-long success, Pretre was named 2016 GLVC Women's Coach of the Year. The men's team also improved to a fourth-place conference result and posted a 20th-place finish nationally.

Pretre's collegiate coaching career began at Princeton in 2005. He spent one season there as an assistant coach on the men's side before moving on to Rutgers as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator on the women's staff. Among his successes at Rutgers was Shayna Longacre, who earned a spot on the 2007 U.S. National Team and represented this country in Japan.
 
Pretre continued his successful assistant coaching run at during two seasons at East Carolina. He not only coached numerous school record-holders but he also recruiting several student-athletes who went on to win conference titles after his departure in 2011 to Truman State.
 
The Westfield, New Jersey, native swam collegiately at West Virginia University, graduating with a degree in child development in 1997. Pretre went on to earn a master's in special education/teacher of handicapped at New Jersey City University in 2003. He was a special education teacher at the elementary and middle school level from 1998 to 2005, while also coaching on the YMCA level.
 
Pretre and his wife, Collette, are the parents of Brayden, Ella and Carter.