Pete Kiernan has served 24 seasons as the Head Coach of the Lehman College Swimming and Diving teams. In October of 1983, he was named the Head Swimming Coach of the Lancers (now The Lehman Lightning). He is the Lightning's fifth coach in the 36-year history of the program.
A 1980 graduate of Lehman, Kiernan was a three-time captain and four-year letter-winner in men’s swimming, establishing school records in the 1M while winning the Metropolitan Conference Championships in the 200 and 400 Individual Medley and the 100 Butterfly Events, He was also a two-year member of the Track & Field team, winning silver medals at CUNY’s in Pole Vault and Decathlon, setting a school record in the 1980 CUNY Outdoor Championships. He’s studied exercise physiology at Queens College, and earned a Masters Degree in Education from Lehman College in 1989.
One of Kiernan's swimmers still holds the New York City 50 Freestyle sprint record since 1989. In 1986, Kiernan's third year as Head Coach, he led the Men's Swimming and Diving team to a CUNYAC Championship. Since the reintroduction of the men’s championship program in 2001, the Lightning placed third and finished in second place in both the 2004 and 2005 CUNYAC Championship meets. Follow that, Kiernan's squad rebounded by capturing three consecutive CUNYAC titles, attaining glory in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Kiernan also helped re-establish the women’s swimming program in 1997, and he presently serves as their Head Coach.
During his tenure at Lehman, Kiernan has been instrumental in all facets of the aquatics program. Since its inception in 1994, he has been the Aquatics Director of the APEX (Athletic and Physical Education Complex), the Head Coach of the APEX Swim Club, a USS Age Group Swim Team, as well as Head Coach of Men’s & Women’s swimming and diving.
A native of New York City, Kiernan resides in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.
