Returning home: Ellie Monobe has roots in Northern California and swam for Cal when they won the Pac-10 title and two NCAA championships. She also coached the Sun Valley Swim Team in Lafayette, California—right in Saint Mary’s neighborhood. / Photo illustration by Piper Westrom
Ellie Monobe Named Saint Mary’s Men’s and Women’s Swimming Head Coach
Monobe has coached Pepperdine to three conference championships in the past four seasons. She was 2025 Coach of the Year for the conference and is one of several new coaches SMC is hiring for a new Division I Aquatics Program.
The momentum continues to build within Saint Mary’s Aquatics as Ellie Monobe returns to Northern California as the Gaels’ head coach for Men’s and Women’s Swimming, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Matoso announced on Tuesday.
Monobe joins the Gaels after leading the Pepperdine Waves’ women’s swimming and diving program to three conference championships in the past four seasons, which included winning the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship in 2025. She was named the PCSC Coach of the Championship Meet in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and the MPSF Coach of the Year in 2025.
“We are thrilled to have someone with such high accolades and character in Ellie join our athletic department and lead our swimming program,” Matoso said. “Ellie is a perfect fit for the campus community, and her success coaching will be a tremendous asset as we build the swimming program.”
In Men's and Women's Swimming, Saint Mary’s College will join the MPSF, a conference that includes several strong Division I programs across the West.
Vision, Commitment, and Enthusiasm at SMC
“I’m honored to join Saint Mary’s College and help launch the Men’s and Women’s Swimming Programs. I’d like to thank VP Mike Matoso and senior athletic staff for entrusting me with this incredible opportunity,” Monobe said. “Their vision, commitment, and enthusiasm for aquatics makes this an exciting time to be a part of Saint Mary's. I look forward to building a championship-caliber program in the Bay Area, well known for its rich aquatic traditions.”
Prior to Pepperdine, Monobe spent four years (2017–20) at UC Santa Barbara under head coach Matt Macedo. She was promoted to associate head coach after her third season and was the recruiting coordinator for both the men’s and women’s programs. During her UCSB tenure, the Gauchos won MPSF titles on the men’s side in 2017 and 2018, while the women turned in three second-place finishes. Monobe was also an assistant coach at UNLV during the 2015–16 season (helping the men tie for 35th place at the NCAA Championships) and at UMass during the 2014–15 season.
“Their vision, commitment, and enthusiasm for aquatics makes this an exciting time to be a part of Saint Mary's,” Ellie Monobe said. “I look forward to building a championship-caliber program in the Bay Area, well known for its rich aquatic traditions.”
She spent the 2013–14 school year as head coach of the Sun Valley Swim Team in Lafayette, California—right in Saint Mary’s neighborhood—while also serving as a graduate assistant in compliance in San Jose State, where she earned her master’s degree in kinesiology and also served as the team manager for the Spartan women’s swimming and diving team.
A native of Northern California, Monobe got her start in coaching at her alma mater, University of California, Berkeley, where she was an undergraduate assistant/volunteer assistant coach in 2011–12 while completing her degree in American studies.
From 2007 to 2011, Monobe was a four-year member of Cal’s women’s swimming team, which won NCAA championships in 2009 and 2011 and a Pacific-10 Conference title in 2009. She was a team captain as a senior and won the program’s Coach’s Award in 2009 and 2011.
Investing in a New Era
California has long been a center of excellence in aquatics, with world-class high school programs and a deep culture of swimming and water polo. By launching Aquatics in Moraga—in the heart of the Bay Area's swimming culture—Saint Mary's is tapping into one of the nation's strongest talent pipelines while also aligning with a community that lives and breathes the sport.
The College has already secured a partnership with nearby Campolindo High School, whose Olympic-size pool and Soda Aquatics Center will provide training and competition space, complemented by the College's own Joseph L. Alioto Recreation Center, a daily home base for student-athletes and coaches.
Looking ahead, the College will be developing a state-of-the-art aquatics facility of its own in the coming years, with vital support anticipated from donors, alumni, aquatics enthusiasts, and friends of Saint Mary's.
“Our vision for aquatics at Saint Mary's will only be realized through the passion and generosity of those who care deeply about this sport,” Saint Mary’s President Roger Thompson said when announcing the program in September. “This is a unique moment to make a meaningful impact—not just for today's student-athletes, but for the countless Gaels and community members who will benefit from a dedicated aquatics home for decades to come. Together, we can build something enduring, something that reflects the values of our College and the deep tradition of excellence in aquatics across California.”
