Alec Scott, a lead coach at Palo Alto's Alto Swim Club, is joining Stanford men's swimming and diving full-time.

Stanford announced the hire Monday, Aug. 31, placing Scott in the newly created Skip Kenney Assistant Coach position. The role honors the former head coach who won seven NCAA championships with the Cardinal from 1985 to 1998.

Scott is no stranger to the program. He has served as a volunteer assistant under head coach Dan Schemmel since 2019, helping Stanford post five consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships and producing more than 60 All-Americans. He worked closely with three Stanford Olympians: Andrei Minakov, Ron Polonsky and Jonathan Tan.

Schemmel called the hire "a long time coming" and said Scott has played a crucial role over seven years. "I'm extremely grateful we now have the opportunity to have him with us full-time," Schemmel said in the announcement.

The hire carries particular weight in Palo Alto. At Alto Swim Club, Scott is one of the lead coaches of the National Group and has helped more than 110 swimmers reach Junior National qualifying times. He's helped produce five Olympic Trials qualifications. The club won the 2019 USA Swimming National Championship and has earned nine sectional titles during his tenure.

Scott has coached at Alto Swim Club and served as a Stanford volunteer assistant simultaneously since 2019.

Stanford finished 10th at the 2026 NCAA Championships with 136 points, according to NCAA results.

Before arriving in Palo Alto, Scott coached at the University of Northern Colorado, where he helped the Bears win three Western Athletic Conference championships. He also spent the 2016-17 season as a volunteer assistant at the University of Alabama, where the Crimson Tide earned 33 All-America honors. Scott swam at Indian River State College and Alabama, graduating from Alabama in 2016 with a journalism degree.

No start date for Scott's full-time role has been announced. His future status with Alto Swim Club was not addressed in Stanford's release.