James Sweeney was hired in 2012 as the Aquatics Director and Head Coach of the Men's & Women's Swimming Diving teams at Regis College. Since taking over the program, the teams have had tremendous success in the classroom and in the pool. The women’s team continued to have over a 3.0 team GPA avergaging a 3.2 last year. Five out of the past six semesters they have been nationally ranked with there highest being 29^th. The men had there highest GPA last fall with a 3.4 which ranked them 5^th in the country, and have been nationally ranked in four of the past six semesters. The women’s team had the highest team GPA at Regis in 2014, while the men had the highest last year. In the pool, the men and women have broken an outstanding 64 school records in the past three years. Prior to Coach James’s arrival, the women's team only had one record broken in the previous 12 seasons, and only two since 1997, but have had 12 in the past 2 years. The men's team not only has produced 52 school records in the past 3 years, but also has had many "firsts" for the program as well such as scoring points at the ECAC Championships and being the highest scoring Division III team and having several NCAA “B” qualifying times.  The men’s team has also produced 5 pool records at away dual meets. At last year’s New England Championships the women’s team had there highest finish in 20 years and for the first time since the mid 90’s scored points at the ECAC Championships. The men’s team for the second year in a row scored points at the ECAC Championships and was the highest placing among D3 schools.

Coach James began his college coaching career as an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts while obtaining his Master's degree in Sport Management. He then went on to the University of Miami where he was an assistant coach before being promoted to head coach. During his tenure as head coach at the University of Miami, he also co-owned and operated a USS swim team named Cane Aquatics, a Master's swim team, a swim lesson program, and a summer sports camp. Subsequent to Miami, he moved back to the Boston area and got involved with a local YMCA in Andover prior to moving to Illinois. While in Illinois, he served as the CEO/Head Coach of the Naperville Swim Team and later assisted with the Academy Bullet Swim Team before moving back to Miami to work at Gulliver Schools.

As Head Coach at Gulliver Schools, the team enjoyed tremendous success. In his first season, the girls’ varsity team finished 9th at the State Championships, while the boys finished in 4th: the boy's highest finish in 20 years. He helped produce one USA Swimming National Record, two Florida High School State Champions, Men's District High School Champions 2008-2011, and Sectional, Junior, and Senior National qualifiers.

While coaching with the Academy Bullets Swim Team, the team won the Illinois Age Group and Senior Championships in short course and in long course, while James’s swimmers broke 10 team records.

As the CEO/Head Coach of the Naperville Swim Team, the team experienced its best success in years:
- Team Awarded Silver Medal Status through USA Swimming's 2007 National Club Excellence Program.
- Member of the Illinois Swimming Age Group Committee
- Produced five Senior National Qualifiers, two US Open Qualifiers with one Finalist
- Four Junior National Qualifiers, nine NCSA Junior National Qualifiers with one Finalist
- Three National Age Group USA Top 16 Swims
- 30 Sectional Finalists, 78 JO Finalists with eight Champions
- Seven Team Illinois Swimmers with 23 Finalists and four Champions
- 59 New Team Records, 73 Illinois Top Ten Times
- Two High School State Champions
- One swimmer selected for the USA Swimming Zone Select Camp

During his tenure at the Andover/North Andover YMCA as the Director of Competitive Swimming, he was the Head Swim Coach of the ANA Hurricanes Swim Team, and also directed the Masters and Synchronized swimming teams. In taking over the swim team, he brought immediate excellence to the program in placing 2nd at both the short course and long course New England Age Group Championships, the teams highest placing in history. His swimmers also reached the following heights:
- Five National Top 16 swimmers, including two ranked in the top three in the U.S.
- Four Sectional Finalists
- Six New England Age Group High Point Champions, 30 Individual Event Champions, 78 Finalists
- Two Swimmers selected for the USA Swimming Zone Select Camp
- Two Zone Champions and 11 Zone Finalists
- Two Massachusetts State High School Champions
- 29 YMCA National Qualifiers
- 12 Outstanding New England swimmers, and 44 Top Ten New England swimmers

He was at the University of Miami for a total of nine years as both an assistant coach for four years and head coach for five years. During his tenure as the head coach, his team's experienced great success in the pool and in the classroom. His swimmers achieved the following:
- Four Olympians who achieved one Gold Medal and one Bronze Medal
- Two National Champions and Two National Record Holders– Canada and the Virgin Islands
- Eight NCAA All-Americans
- The women's team finished top 20 at the NCAA Championships 4 out of 5 years
- One Big East Swimmer of the Year, 13 Big East Champions, 5 Big East Records
- Women's team broke 8 out of 14 individual and 4 out of 5 relay school records
- In combined NCAA and CSCAA GPA Rankings in 2002, the women's team ranked 1st, the men 3rd, and combined 1st in the country
- Women's team GPA of 3.43 was a school record, Men's team GPA of 3.21 was 7th best ever

As an assistant coach at the University of Miami, James's swimmers achieved the following:
- Five Olympians who achieved two Bronze Medals
- One European National Champion
- 1995 Big East Men's Team Champions
- Seven NCAA All-Americans
- 32 Big East Champions

At the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, he assisted both the men's and women's programs. The men's teams were twice New England Team Champions.

As a swimmer, James achieved great success both during high school and for Olympic swim coach and legend James "Doc" Councilman at Indiana University. During high school, he was a U.S. Olympic Festival Champion, Junior National Champion and Rookie of the Meet at Senior National Championships. The team won Junior Nationals three seasons in a row with James as a very important team member. He participated in the 1988 Olympic Team Swimming Trials and qualified for the 1992 Olympic Trials. James also broke 4 New England 18 & Under swimming records.

At Indiana University, he was a 4-time NCAA All-American, and a 3-time Big Ten Champion. He is the former school record holder in the 1000 free, 1650 free, and 800 free relay, and had broken pool records at Indiana University, the University of Michigan, and at the University of Illinois. He began learning the science of swimming from the legendary "Doc" Councilman, the coach of Mark Spitz among other greats. James's butterfly stroke is illustrated in "Doc's" book the New Science of Swimming. James was Doc's final Big Ten Champion and NCAA All-American in his illustrious coaching career at IU.

James received his B.A. at Indiana University, and a M.S. in Sport Management at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He has a 6 year old son named Broden.