TicketsUC Coaching Highlights
- 208 UC Top-10 Times
- 31 UC School Records
- 6 NCAA Qualifiers
- 2 US Olympic Team Trial Semi-finalist
- 2 Big 12 Conference Champions
- 1 All-American and 1 Honorable Mention All-American
Stern is in his third year on the Bearcats staff after joining in the Fall of 2023.
In the 2025-26 season, he guided the Bearcats through their third season in the Big 12 collecting a fourth-place team Big 12 Championship finish (tied highest and best with 10 teams), UC’s first back-to-back Big 12 Champion, 42 top-ten performances, eight All-Big 12 First/Second Team, eight CSC Academic All-District winners, two school records and an 3.7665 record-high team GPA. Individually, Crye grabbed a back-to-back Big 12 Championship title in the 100 Breaststroke title, earned her second consecutive First team All-American honors at the NCAA Championships. Lindi Worrell also competed at the NCAA Championships in the 100 Breaststroke, placing 21st overall. Crye also was named Big 12 Women’s Swimmer of the year, while Mia Hensley earned Big 12 Women’s Scholar Athlete of the year. On the men’s side, they claimed nine All-Big 12 First/Second Team and six Big 12 Student-Athlete of the week awards.
In 2025, Stern helped lead the Bearcats through a historic season. The women opened the Big 12 Conference Championship with a program-record and NCAA “A” Standard time in the 200 Medley Relay, marking the Bearcats’ first relay qualification for the NCAA Championships since 1976. Both the men’s and women’s teams went on to win their first Big 12 Conference titles in program history. Individually, Crye captured the 100 Breast title on the women’s side, while Hunter Gubeno claimed victory in the men’s 200 Backstroke. At the NCAA Championships, Joleigh Crye earned All-American honors with a 4th-place finish in the 100 Breaststroke. Crye went on to earn the 2025 UC Student-Athlete of the Year award. The women's team also set a record-setting 3.734 cumulative team GPA over the spring semester. Overall, the teams posted 19 First/Second Team All-Big 12 performances, 17 new school records and earned eight top-three finishes at the Big 12 Championships.
Prior to Cincinnati, Stern served as a volunteer swim coach at Kentucky from 2022-23, where he helped coach eight Wildcats to All-SEC honors.
In his first season with the Bearcats, Stern helped the Bearcats in their inaugural season of the Big 12 Conference with fourth-place finishes for both the men’s and women’s programs. The women were able to defeat #22 Northwestern and conference rival West Virginia early in the season. Both programs had NCAA qualifiers for the first time since 2017. Senior, Hunter Gubeno qualified in the 200 backstroke after breaking the school record with a time of 1:39.95 and Sophomore, Joleigh Crye made it back again in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 58.24, breaking her previous record. At NCAA, Crye was able to earn All-American Honors with a 13th-place finish. The team's success carried over to the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials, where both Gubeno and Crye had standout performances, qualifying them for the semi-finals.
Prior to his time at Kentucky, Stern worked in a similar capacity as an assistant swim coach at DePauw. With DePauw, he coordinated the team's recruiting efforts and oversaw social media efforts.As a student-athlete, Stern was a team captain and competed in 10 events over three Atlantic 10 Championships at Fordham from 2017-21. He was also a three-year honoree of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner Honor Roll, named to the program's Atlantic 10 25th Anniversary team and represented on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
He was also a recipient of the Benedict T. Harter Award, an award that is presented to the Gabelli School of Business senior athlete who has made significant academic and athletic contributions.
He received his bachelor's degree in marketing from Fordham in 2021 and added a master's in sports administration from Northwestern in 2022.