David Fox
Head Coach
Background
A former nationally ranked age-group swimmer, state-record holder, and qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championships, David Fox returned to his native Oklahoma following his graduation from Bates College, where he held school records in nine of the eighteen individual swimming events.
From 1993-1996, Fox coached SwimTulsa and the Trojan Aquatic Club and worked with 21 Junior National qualifiers, one Junior National Champion, six Senior National qualifiers, and one Olympic Trials qualifier. For the next eight years, he taught at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa and served as a student, teacher, coach, and administrator at Harvard University.
In 2004, Fox joined the English Department at Phillips Academy, and in 2006, he began assisting Coach Jacques Hugon '79 with the Boys' Varsity Swimming and Diving Team. During the next six years under Coach Hugon's leadership, the team held a 44-4 dual-meet record (44-1 in New England) and won three New England Championships.
Head Coach
Ahead of the 2012 season, Fox was named Head Coach of the Boys' Varsity Swimming and Diving Team. During his thirteen seasons as Head Coach--he took a sabbatical in 2015 and lost a season in 2021--Andover is 86-3 in dual meets (73-0 in New England) and has won the New England Championship each of the twelve times the team has attended the meet.
In addition, during ten of the thirteen seasons, Andover has been ranked among the top 25 high school programs--public and independent--in the United States.
In 2013, Andover attended its first Eastern Championships since the 1970s and placed fourth. In 2014, the team returned and placed fourth again. Following a two-year absence, Andover placed second at both the 2017 and 2018 Eastern Championships. 2019 brought a historic achievement: Andover won its first Eastern Championship; no other New England team had before won. The team repeated this feat in 2020. After a third-place finish in 2022, Andover won the Eastern Championship in 2023, 2024, and 2025. In 2026, Andover was the runner-up.
During Fox's tenure as head coach, Andover swimmers and divers have broken 384 National, Eastern, class, pool, meet, school, and New England records.
In addition, Fox has guided 43 individual swimmers to 93 distinct All-American Awards, and Andover swimmers have gone faster than the All-American "consideration" standard 263 times.
Swimmers whom Fox has coached have gone on to compete for a range of college programs, among them: Amherst College, California Institute of Technology, Dartmouth University, Emory University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Texas A&M University, Tufts University, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of Texas, and Williams College.
In addition, Andrew Wilson '12 won a Gold Medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the 4x100 Medley Relay.
In 2025, the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association awarded Fox the David H. Robertson Award for Excellence in Coaching.
With the opening of the Pan Athletic Center and the Christopher Lynn '66 Pool, Fox was able to combine the "varsity" and "junior varsity" teams and serve as the head coach for all 35 swimmers who wish to compete for the boys' team.
In addition to coaching the team and teaching English--usually eleventh and twelfth graders with electives in philosophy and literature, critical theory, Don Quixote, The Wire, and Shakespeare, among others--Fox teaches Andover's year-long course in the history of art and visual culture, completed 17 years of living in a ninth-grade dormitory, and served as the Director of Studies. In 2017, the Trustees of Phillips Academy awarded Fox the Frederick W. Beinecke Teaching Foundation, an honor he retains permanently.
Fox holds degrees from Bates College and Harvard University.
Hillary Kavanagh
Assistant Coach
After a successful career as an attorney, Hillary Kavanagh chose to leave the courtroom in 2008 in order to focus on raising her three kids. A lifelong competitive swimmer, collegiate varsity rower, and masters swimmer, Kavanagh was thrilled to return to the water in 2013 to begin a second career in coaching. Since that time, Coach Kav has worked at several Massachusetts swim clubs, with swimmers across all age groups and skill levels. In 2019, she joined Team New England, which captured wins across individual age groups, and the overall AAU team championship title in 2022. In the fall of 2022, Kavanagh joined the Andover Boys Swim program as an assistant coach in the newly opened PAN Athletic Center. Andover went on to win its third Eastern Championship in 2023. Coach Kav is now excited to take on her new role as Head Coach of Girls Swimming.
From beginner swim instruction to high-level personal coaching for collegiate athletes, Coach Kav is grateful to be able to share her passion for swimming. No matter the level of experience, Coach Kav encourages each swimmer to persevere and push beyond their personal limitations, in order to ultimately gain the confidence to exceed their own expectations. Her coaching philosophy is grounded in one simple concept; to motivate each swimmer to be the very best version of themselves, in and out of the water.
Kavanagh earned her BA from Tufts University. She lives off campus with her husband and three kids.
Dylan Herlihy '22
Diving Coach
After graduating from Macalester College with a BA, Coach Dylan Herlihy ’22 was appointed head coach of Andover’s diving program.
Coach Herlihy brings a unique blend of competitive diving, gymnastics, and a deep connection to Andover. Starting his diving journey at Phillips Academy, Coach Herlihy became a standout on Andover’s diving team, earning varsity honors as a senior before continuing his career at Macalester College.
At Macalester, Herlihy became one of the top divers in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), earning Academic All-MIAC honors and a 2026 All-MIAC Honorable Mention following the conference championships.
Throughout his collegiate career, he set personal bests on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards while headlining the Scots’ program all four years.
Before discovering diving, Coach Herlihy had an outstanding gymnastics career at Reading Gymnastics Academy before and during his time at Andover. Herlihy earned four consecutive USA Gymnastics Academic All-America honors while at Andover. He also won the 2022 Bay State Summer Games championship, the 2018 Massachusetts State all-around championship, the 2019 New England Regional all-around title, and the 2021 New England Regional pommel horse title.
Returning to his alma mater as a coach is especially meaningful for Coach Herlihy. After seven years of coaching gymnastics, he has developed a deep love for teaching and mentoring young athletes. Coach Herlihy is excited to give back to the program that shaped him and help the next generation of Big Blue divers build confidence, develop their skills, and enjoy all that diving has to offer.