Ben Johnson is in his fourth season as full-time assistant coach for the Babson men's and women's swimming and diving programs in 2025-26.
The Beavers are coming off another outstanding campaign under head coach Eric Thurston and Johnson in 2024-25. The men's squad finished 7-3 in dual meet competition before finishing fourth at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships with 704 points, the third highest point total going back to 2002. The women's team finished 8-5 in dual meets, posting the most wins since the 2019-20 season, and placed seventh at the NEWMAC Championships with 416 points, the highest in program history.
The two teams combined for 18 school records in 2024-25, 12 by the men and six by the women. Pat Anusarasoti '25 captured the NEWMAC title in the men's 100-yard breaststroke, the program's first event victory since 2007.
The Beavers also enjoyed a successful campaign in 2023-24. The Babson men, 5-6 in the regular season, went on to finish fourth at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships, setting six program records and totaling 740.5 points, the most since 2002. The Beaver women, 6-7 in dual meets, finished seventh at the championships with 284 points and two program records.
Johnson joined the staff under Thurston in 2022 and helped the Beavers to a successful season in his first year. He helped guide the men's team to a 9-4 record in dual meets and a third-place finish at the NEWMAC Championships with 725 points, the highest finish and most points for the program since 2002. The women's program posted a 6-8 mark in dual meets and a seventh-place finish at the NEWMAC Championships with 332 points, the second-highest total in program history. In addition, the Beaver men broke six program records and the women established five new standards during the 2022-23 campaign.
For their success, Thurston and his assistants were voted by their peers as the NEWMAC Men's Swimming Coaching Staff of the Year for 2022-23, the first Babson swim coaches to be recognized since 2012.
A native of Belmont, Mass., Johnson is a former standout swimmer at Saint Joseph’s College in Maine, where he was the 200-yard butterfly champion at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships and was the school’s first qualifier for the ECAC Championship meet. Johnson is a former captain of the Belmont High School team and is a former 100-yard breaststroke champion in the Middlesex League and has also participated for and coached the Belmont Recreation team.
Johnson was previously a mental health specialist at McLean Hospital in Belmont and a physical and occupational therapy aide at Boston’s Children’s Hospital.
