Former University of Maine women’s and men’s swim coach Jeff Wren likes the potential for the Husson College women’s swim program.

And he will get the opportunity to nurture that potential as the new swim coach at the Bangor-based institution.

Wren will replace Krystal (Folger) Laviguer, who directed the Eagles for their first two varsity seasons before Butch Babin replaced her last year while she was on maternity leave.

Wren will also be the director of aquatics at the school and will be an instructor in the School of Education.

“I want to develop a good atmosphere and a good identity for the program,” said the 59-year-old Wren. “I want the kids to feel good about being a part of the program.

“I was certainly proud of certain things we did at the University of Maine. I think people enjoyed the program and I want it to be the same here,” said Wren.

Wren started the Maine women’s program in 1971 and coached both the women’s and men’s programs from 1990-2007.

During a 10-year span from 1978-1987, Wren’s women’s teams captured five New England championships and finished second the other five years.

He coached Laviguer, who was a two-time Most Outstanding Performer at the America East championships.

Wren feels Husson has a great deal to offer a student-athlete including a myriad of attractive majors, several of them being recent additions, and a dramatic student population growth over the past five years.

He said his hope is that high school swimmers seeking a college realize Husson “fills a real need.

“The first thing I want to do is get the numbers up a little bit. I want to create a situation where we have more than one swimmer [or relay team] in every event,” said Wren. “Hopefully, that can happen and this is the right kind of place where it can.”

Husson has routinely had 12 to 15 swimmers in its first three seasons but Wren is looking to have at least 20-24 on his teams.

There were 20 events at the NCAA Division III championships including five relays but Wren added that there are even a few more short-distance events offered by New England schools.

Wren, who taught at Maine after stepping down as the swim coach following the 2007 season, said he never anticipated “getting back into a leadership position.

“But this came at a time that fit with what I’m looking for and what Husson is looking for,” said Wren.

He said he would like to expand on Husson’s schedule and acknowledged there has been some talk about adding a men’s swim program.

“I want to concentrate on moving forward with what we have but I certainly wouldn’t be close-minded to that,” said the Closter, N.J., native. “A lot may have to do with scheduling. There are a lot of schools with just women’s programs like St. Joseph’s and UNE [University of New England]. But there are also a lot of schools in New England with men’s and women’s teams.

“I’ll have to get a sense for what is the best fit for us,” said Wren, who added that he has found the administration at Husson to be “enthusiastic” and progressive concerning new ideas.

Wren and his wife Rae (Fournier) have two children, Morgan and Jamie.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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