Jess Nava is in her second season as an assistant coach for the Babson men's and women's swimming and diving programs in 2023-24.
Nava joined the staff under head coach Eric Thurston a year ago and helped the Beavers to a successful season in 2022-23. She helped guide the men's team to a 9-4 record in dual meets and a third-place finish at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (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.
Nava is a former standout swimmer at the University of Virginia, where she was a team captain, Atlantic Coast Conference champion and an NCAA All-American. Employed fulltime at Wayfair, Nava was also a part of the NCAA National Championship Team.
