Tracey Bird, who has extensive experience coaching at international competitions and with the U.S. Olympic Training Center and previously served the Crimson as the interim diving coach, enters her eighth season working with the Harvard men's and women’s swimming and diving programs in 2025-26.
Last season, Bird helped seven women's divers (Ennika Carlson, Tabitha Chen-Fiske, Remi Edvalson, Samantha Holtz, Nina Janmyr, Elizabeth Miclau, Amy Wotovich) and three on the men's side (Jack Holland, Will Sullivan, Raphael Tourette) reach the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, with Edvalson (platform) and Janmyr (1-meter) securing NCAA Championship berths.
In 2023-24, Bird helped three women's divers (Remi Edvalson '25, Nina Janmyr '26, Amy Wotovich '25) reach the NCAA Championships. Edvalson was a qualifier in 1-meter and platform diving, with Janmyr and Wotovich competing at 1- and 3-meters, respectively. Janmyr was also the Ivy League champion on both boards. The women's trio was part of a quartet that competed at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships. On the men's side, meanwhile, Adam Wesson '25 earned an NCAA berth in the 1- and 3-meter competitions, and was one of five Crimson divers to appear at the zone meet.
In her fifth season in Cambridge, Bird helped a women's diving program send three athletes to the 2023 NCAA Championships in Edvalson '25 (platform), Janmyr '26 (1-, 3-meter) and Elizabeth Miclau ’24 (platform). This all occurred after the Crimson qualified seven divers for the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships. Edvalson (1-meter) and Miclau (3-meter), meanwhile, were All-Ivy League Second-Team selections.
On the men's side, Bird helped Wesson '25 reach the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year. Prior to Wesson performing on national stage, Wesson was one of five Harvard divers to compete at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships. Wesson, who garnered All-Ivy Second-Team accolades, posted a runner-up performance in the 1-meter event and a fourth-place effort on the three-meter board, both of which punched his NCAA ticket.
Bird helped guide the Crimson to a banner year in diving in 2021-22. On the women’s side, the Crimson took the top four spots in the 1-meter while claiming the top four spots and six of the top eight positions in the 3-meter event at the Ivy League Championships. Katie Laverty ’25 won the 1-meter event while Miclau captured the 3-meter event. Georgina Milne ’22 won the Ron Keenhold Career High Point Diver Award for cumulative points over four years while Laverty captured the Rick Gilbert Award as the High Point Diver of the Meet. Eight Crimson qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships before Miclau advanced to the NCAA Championships.
On the men’s side in 2021-22, all four divers qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships. At Zones, Wesson placed second in the 3-meter event and sixth in the 1-meter event to advance to the NCAA Championships. Wesson proceeded to earn Second Team CSCAA All-America honors, finishing 16th in the nation in the 1-meter event.
Previously at Harvard, Bird acted as the Crimson’s interim diving coach from 2017-19 and as a volunteer assistant coach in 2019-20.
Holding a wealth of experiencing coaching at the international level, she has coached at the Junior World Championships in 2008 and 2012, at the Youth Olympic Games and World Series Championships in 2014, at the Junior Pan Am Games in 2019, and at Grand Prix competition in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020. She guided Gracia Leydon Mahoney to a gold medal in the 16-18 girls 3-meter at the 2012 Junior World Championships.
Bird has acted as a USA diving coach and team leader at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs on multiple occasions, including in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. She has also served as a judge at several high-level collegiate competitions including the NCAA Championships, ACC Championships, SEC Championships, and Big 10 Championships.
During the 2012-13 season, Bird acted as a volunteer assistant coach at her alma mater, Stanford University, after serving as the diving coach at Concord Carlisle Regional High School from 2003-12. A 2014 inductee into the Eastern Massachusetts Interscholastic Swim Coach Academy Hall of Fame, Bird coached 13 of a possible 18 state champions over her nine years as well as 12 All-Americans.
From 1991-96, Bird acted as a USA diving coach with Stanford Diving, sending multiple student-athletes to compete at Division I institutions, including two at Stanford University. She was also the Safety Certification Director/Instructor for USA Diving, Region VII. From 1989-91, Bird was the head diving coach at DeAnza Junior College, mentoring the women’s junior college state champion in 1991.
Bird previously assisted at Stanford from 1986-89, while also acting as the head age group coach and program administrator for Stanford Diving. During that time, Bird was the secretary and newsletter editor of the Professional Diving Coaches Association. From 1984-86, Bird served as the health education program director within the Stanford athletic department.
A native of Darien, Connecticut, Bird earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford University in 1984. While competing for the Cardinal, Bird qualified for the NCAA Championships four times and helped Stanford win the 1983 national title.
