Every Friday, TCNJ Athletics will highlight one of its Hall of Fame inductees. This week it's Jennifer Harnett, a 1993 graduate and a 2005 inductee into the TCNJ Athletics Hall of Fame. She also serves as the TCNJ head women's swimming and diving coach. This is her Hall of Fame profile from the induction ceremony. Click here for her current coaching profile.
Jennifer Harnett is considered the College's most decorated female swimmer, having earned 18 All-America citations during her collegiate career. Following that distinguished swimming career, she has turned her attention back to TCNJ having become the mentor of TCNJ's women's swimming & diving program following the retirement of Brenda Campbell in June of 2001.
As a student-athlete, Jennifer competed for Campbell from 1989-1993 and earned 18 All-America citations during her career. Specializing in the 200 individual medley and the 100 and 200 freestyle events, Harnett placed in the Top 8 every year at the NCAA Championships in her respective events. Considered as the school's most successful female swimmer, she was recognized as the New Jersey College Female Athlete of the Year by the New Jersey Sports Writers' Association as a senior in 1993. She was also named the 1993 NJAC Woman Athlete of the Year after earning four straight selections as the Metropolitan Conference Most Valuable Swimmer during her career. She also earned the 1993 Dick Kremprecki Most Outstanding Female Senior Award at the Metropolitan Conference Championships for her valuable contributions to the sport of swimming. She was also awarded the school's Varsity "T" Award as the top senior female athlete in 1993. Harnett still holds records in the 200 freestyle and the 200 individual medley events. She was listed in the 1993-1994 edition of "Who's who among Students in American Universities and Colleges".
In her four years thus far as the head women's swimming coach at her alma mater, Harnett has registered 27 victories against 16 losses and led her team to three Metropolitan Conference and two New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championships during her short tenure. A two-time Metropolitan Conference and NJAC Coach of the Year, she guided the Lions to their best performance at the NCAA Division III Championships as the team placed 13th at the 2003 NCAA's.
She served as an assistant coach for the Lions under Campbell for the 1993-1994 campaign. Jennifer helped to develop and implement a preseason training program for the team, while specializing in stroke mechanics. Harnett remained active in coaching, serving as an assistant swim coach at both Ramsey (NJ) and Ridgewood (NJ) High Schools as well as with the Bergen Barracudas Swim Club (Mahwah, NJ), an age group club.
Before coming back to her alma mater, she served as the Membership Director and the International Camp Director at the Ridgewood (NJ) YMCA and distinguished herself. In 1999, the YMCA Association for Professional Directors selected Jennifer as the Rookie of the Year. That same year, the YMCA honored Harnett as a "Key Leader" for outstanding camp and international camp programs. In 2000, she was recognized for her work with the international camp program as part of the YMCA Garden State Cluster Organization.
She has also helped to build houses for the poor and provided financial help in conjunction with the Faith Ministries in Reynasa, Mexico.
