Jennifer Buffin has been the Associate Coach for the Men's and Women's Swimming program at the University of Hawai`i since 2006. Her primary responsibilities have been Women's recruiting, fundraising, team management, travel, endorsements, and budget. Additionally, she is responsible for maintaining the highest level of competition by ensuring that her student athletes have the proper resources to train and compete both at the collegiate and national/international level.
In just her first season, Buffin played an instrumental role in the third place finish during the 2011 WAC Championships for the women’s team and a second place finish at the Conference USA Championships for the men’s team.
“I am so fortunate to work with a great group of coaches whose knowledge of the sport is unparalleled to any team I have been associated in the past,” Buffin said. “We all understand the importance of commitment to athletes and that their well-being always comes first.”
In her coaching role, Buffin has overseen the sprint group over the last four years. During this time, she has coached an Olympian, NCAA qualifiers and was named the National team coach for the Philippines where she has coached at two world championships, Asia Games and South East Asian Games.
During the 2014-15 season, the Rainbow Wahine won their first ever MPSF Championship and the school's first ever title in the MPSF across any sport or gender. During the championships, the women's team won four relays, broke three individual conference records and qualified one swimmer, Jasmine Alkhaldi for the NCAA Championships. Under Buffin's guidance, the Rainbow Wahine swept both individual and coaching awards for the meet and the year.
Over her tenure, Buffin has contributed to two conference titles, NCAA qualifiers, an Olympic athlete and Olympic trial contenders, as well as numerous individual, team and conference records.
Prior to UH, Coach Buffin spent three years at San Jose State University coaching the Spartans. She graduated in 2002 with a BA in Environmental Science and a minor in Biology. Buffin came to UH after spending time in the prep ranks as an assistant coach at Loretto High School in Sacramento. Before that stint, she was the varsity coach at Arden Hills Swim Club in Sacramento, Calif. A 15-year competitive swimmer across the club and high school levels, Buffin also competed in both swimming and water polo at West Valley College for two years.
She is a 1996 graduate of Centreville High School in Clifton, Va., where she swam the breaststroke and freestyle events, picking up team MVP and the Coaches Award. She qualified for the state’s all four seasons.
Buffin attended West Valley College in Saratoga, Calif., for two seasons where she lettered in both water polo and swimming. She earned the Coaches Award her sophomore seasons in both sports, while captaining the swim team. She qualified for the junior college state championships both seasons.
