Courtesy: Brown Athletics
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown women’s swimming & diving head coach Kate Kovenock has announced the hiring of Christina Bonney as a volunteer assistant coach to the program on Monday.
“I am very excited to announce Christina Bonney as the newest addition to our coaching staff,” said Kovenock. “Her research on goal setting, motivation, and performance as it relates to collegiate swimmers makes her an immediate resource for our student-athletes and coaches alike. We’re really fortunate to be the program that gets to welcome coach Bonney back to the pool deck and the sport she loves.”
Bonney is no stranger to the Ivy League, having competed for the Yale swim program 1995-97. She is a 1999 graduate from the University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Following Yale, Bonney received a Master of Science in Developmental Psychology (2004) and a PhD in Education and Psychology (2006) from the University of Michigan.
“I’m thrilled to join the Brown women’s swimming and diving family, and sincerely thank coaches Kate Kovenock, Jim Pyrch, and Niko Fantakis for the opportunity, and for welcoming me with open arms,” said Bonney. “We have a wonderful group of women with exciting potential in and out of the pool, and I am looking forward to working with them, and using my own unique background to contribute to the team this year.”
Bonney is currently a Research Associate II for the Education Development Center (EDC) in Waltham, Mass. as part of the U.S. Division of College and Workforce Success portfolio.
Prior to working at the EDC, Bonney held positions at Tufts University as a Senior Researcher for the PACE Center (2008-10) and at Learning Point Associates as a Research Associate for the Evaluation & Policy Research Group.
In her dissertation at Michigan, “Investigating the Influence of the 2×2 Achievement Goal Framework on College Athletes Motivation and Performance,” Bonney researched how college swimmers’ achievement goals were related to their motivation and performance.
Bonney gained coaching experience as an assistant for the North Shore Swim Club from 2000-01. There, she aided with coaching duties during in-the-water and dryland workouts and spearheaded a video program to highlight areas for stroke technique improvement.