Jane Figueiredo - Head Diving Coach - Staff Directory - University of Tennessee Athletics

Staff Directory

Jane Figueiredo

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Head Diving Coach
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One of the best coaches in the history of the sport, Jane Figueiredo was named Tennessee Head Diving Coach ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, Director of Swimming & Diving Matt Kredich announced on April 24.

“I could not be more excited to have Jane Figueiredo take the reins of Tennessee Diving and lead this program into the future,” Kredich said. “Jane is an absolute legend in the sport of diving. She’s well known and highly respected all over the world, and has consistently been successful at the highest levels of the sport. Jane is a force of nature – she has amazing energy, is relentlessly positive and has a very exciting vision for Tennessee Diving. We cannot wait to have her get started.”

Prior to joining the Vols and Lady Vols, Figueiredo spent the last 11 years with Aquatics GB as the High Performance Coach/Director and Head Coach of Dive London. She was responsible for and coached the British Diving Senior Team members at all International-, World- and Olympic-level competitions. Before arriving in London, she coached at the University of Houston – her alma mater – for 24 seasons and was the Russian National Team coach during the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Summer Games.

Throughout her career, Figueiredo’s divers have won titles at the Olympics, World Championships, European Championships and NCAA Championships. The 2024 International Olympic Committee Female Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award winner helped Team Great Britain to its most successful haul ever during the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

A two-time Olympic champion coach, Figueiredo most notably helped Tom Daley to four medals since 2014, including the men's 10-meter synchro gold alongside Matty Lee at the 2020 Tokyo Games. During the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she guided the Russian duo of Vera Ilyina and Yulia Pakhalina to the women’s 3-meter springboard synchro gold medal.

In total, the 2017 World Aquatics Diving Coach of the Year has led athletes to a combined 11 Olympic medals and 12 World Championship medals. Her divers have won Olympic medals during the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Games, including multiple during four of those competitions.

"I am honored to accept the role of Head Diving Coach at the University of Tennessee and so excited to follow in Dave Parrington’s legacy of excellence, tradition and family values,” Figueiredo said. “Together with Matt Kredich and the amazing staff at Tennessee we'll continue to build on the foundation already established in the diving program. Coaching at Tennessee will be one of growth, and I can’t wait to see where this journey takes us. This is truly something very special. Thank you to the Tennessee family for this amazing opportunity.”

At the collegiate level, Figueiredo guided the Houston Cougar divers to eight NCAA titles and 51 All-America honors. She garnered National Women’s Diving Coach of the Year accolades from the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) during the 2001, 2003, 2009 and 2010 campaigns. As a part of the CSCAA’s Centennial Celebration, she was named to the organization’s 100 Greatest College Swimming & Diving Coaches of the past 100 years in June 2021.

As an athlete, Figueiredo represented Portugal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, competing on 3-meter springboard. She was a five-time All-American at UH and is a member of school’s Hall of Honor.

Olympic Highlights
The Harare, Zimbabwe native participated as an athlete or a coach in eight of the last 11 Olympic Games. Here’s a breakdown of her top highlights from each Summer Games:

1984 Los Angeles – Figueiredo made her Olympic debut with Portugal. She competed in the 3-meter event, placing 22nd overall.

1996 Atlanta – After building relationships with the British diving community following the recruitment of Olivia Clark to Houston, Figueiredo was named the coach for Team Great Britain on short notice, training with the team one month prior to the start of the Games. Hayley Allen went on to reach the final of the women's 10-meter platform competition.

2000 Sydney – Figueiredo coached Vera Ilyina and Yulia Pakhalina to the gold medal on the women’s 3-meter synchro event. It was the first of two Olympic champion duos Figueiredo has coached in her career and the first of 11 Summer Games medals won by her divers.

2004 Athens – Following up the gold medal performance from the Sydney Games, Figueiredo helped Ilyina and Pakhalina bring home silver in women's 3-meter springboard synchro. Pakhalina won her first individual Olympic medal as well, taking bronze on 3-meter.

2008 Beijing – In her final Summer Games with the Russian Diving Team, she coached Pakhalina to a pair of silver medals. One in the individual 3-meter event and the other alongside new synchro partner Anastasia Pozdniakova on the women's 3-meter springboard synchro event. Figueiredo helped Pakhalina win two individual Olympic medals and three synchro medals throughout her career.

2016 Rio – Coached Tom Daley to the bronze medal on men’s 10-meter synchro alongside Daniel Goodfellow during her second stint as Great Britain’s Olympic diving coach.

2020 Tokyo – Coached the second Olympic champion squad of her career, as Daley and Matty Lee won the men’s 10-meter synchro gold. Daley also earned the bronze medal on the men’s individual 10-meter platform.

2024 Paris – All three of Figueiredo's divers selected for the Games won medals. Daley and Noah Williams brought home silver on the men’s 10-meter synchro. Williams also took the bronze on the men’s individual 10-meter platform event. Scarlett Mew Jensen won Team GB's first medal of the Games and first Women’s British Diving medal in 64 years when she claimed the bronze in the women's 3-meter synchro, alongside Yasmin Harper.