Admin Spotlight: Nicole Benson
Ellina Kim / The Exonian
By ANGELA HE, AARYAN PATEL, ARJUN VELAN and ANDREW YANG
When Big Red athletes pass by the equipment room to pick up their team suits, they see coach Nicole Benson greeting them with a warm smile and asking about their day. Benson is also an experienced varsity swim coach who checks in with swimmers on the pool deck and supports swimmers by showing them proper technique.
To Benson, her favorite part of working in athletics is bearing witness to the journeys of high school students as they grow. “My favorite part in working with student-athletes, especially high school student-athletes, is seeing them come in as a prep and then watching them develop over four years and then graduate as a senior. Also, not only seeing how they understand the process of being a team from prep year through senior year but also how they integrate that into who they are,” she commented.
Growing up in Wisconsin, Benson was exposed to athletics from a young age. She recalled, “I grew up as a three-season athlete in high school. I did swimming in the fall, basketball in the winter, and track in the spring.” She then received a Division I scholarship to swim at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Following her graduation, Benson attended the University of Kansas, where she got her master’s degree in sociology while continuing her career in swimming.
“Then I started coaching at the college level, at the University of New Hampshire,” Benson shared. “I did that for about nine years before I moved over to coaching clubs a little bit more.”
After gaining more experience from coaching multiple teams, Benson recalled the moment “Coach Mills, several years ago, asked me to help out with the boys’ JV program here at Phillips Exeter Academy.”
Four years later, Benson now coaches varsity swimming and uses her expertise to benefit many. Upper Andrew Gao, a new member of varsity swimming, described her teachings, “She taught me flip turns, dives, underwaters, strokes, kicks — every part of swimming. She treats me like a real swimmer and helps me learn.”
“I think she has a lot of coaching expertise—she is very knowledgeable in how to coach high-level swimmers,” commented senior Sarah Huang.
Director of Physical Education and Athletics Jason Baseden spoke on the profound impact she had when she began coaching the varsity swim team. Baseden explained one way she assisted the team: “Before hiring Mrs. Benson as a head coach, our girls’ swim team was not very competitive, but now they are one of the premiere swimming programs in the East.”
Benson’s work extends well beyond the pool into the equipment room, where she tackles another difficult job each day as equipment manager. Benson explained, “The biggest challenges of the job are organization and logistics. This includes documenting and accounting for every piece of equipment and uniform that enters or leaves the room. Coach Pigsley and I support 23 unique sports, 63 interscholastic teams, and the Physical Education department.”
“She is extremely detail-oriented and organized,” Baseden praised. “She has helped us forecast our needs, so we can have a forward-thinking budget.”
In addition to her work expertise, Benson is known throughout the athletic department as someone who brings positive energy to everyone she works with.
“There’s never a dull moment. Whether we’re organizing gear, working through the budget, getting everything ready for game day, or whatever else comes our way that day, Coach Benson keeps things light and fun while ensuring everything is in order, and her enthusiasm makes working together feel like a team effort,” assistant equipment manager Kate Pigsley noted.
Assistant Athletic Director Brian Muldoon highlighted her selflessness and dedication: “She is a fun, energetic, and passionate person who strives for perfection and pushes people to further themselves. She is always willing to help with anything, whether it is related to her job duties or not.”
Prep Elizabeth Li echoed, “My first impressions of her were that she truly cared about all athletes and their mental health, but she also pushed them to their limits.” Benson is known for balancing high expectations with heartfelt support.
Huang shared a memorable moment with Benson: “After my swim [in NEPSAC], she hugged me and said that she was proud of me […] I feel like she cares a lot about her swimmers.”
Nicole Benson’s legacy is not just in the teams she coaches or the gear she oversees. It’s in each athlete who comes out of the locker room confident and each teammate who feels like a family member. She has taken her passion for people and sports and turned the grind of athletic routine into moments of joy, connection, and growth. On and off the pool deck, Benson doesn’t just create athletes; she creates community. Baseden concluded, “She is as non sibi as one can get.”
