Aug. 23, 2010
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State swimming coach Mike Shrader has announced the hiring of Roland McDonald as the new Aztec diving coach. McDonald, a three-time conference coach of the year honoree, arrives at SDSU after 11 seasons as the men's and women's diving coach at George Mason's University in Fairfax, Va.
During his tenure at George Mason, McDonald was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) diving Coach of the Year on three occasions (2005, 2006, 2010) and had a total of 29 of his divers qualify for the Zone `A' Championships. Three of his female divers earned CAA Diver of the Year honors and three were named the league's Rookie Diver of the Year.
Last season McDonald coached sophomore Kristen Meier, who was named the CAA Diver of the Year after capturing both the one-and three-meter titles at the conference championships. Meier went on to compete at the `Zone A' Diving Championships and qualified for the NCAA Championships in both events.
"I'm very happy to welcome Roland to the Aztec family," commented Shrader, "and I look forward to working with him in the future. He has a very impressive resumé and brings an incredible amount of experience our program. He's a great diving coach who will have an immediate impact and help our student-athletes for years to come."
McDonald, a native of Ann Arbor, Mich., attended Clemson University from 1981-83, before obtaining his degree in chemical physics from Michigan State University in 1987. He was a Big Ten Conference finalist, an NCAA national finalist and was named Michigan State's MVP in 1986.
In over 25 years of coaching, McDonald has earned much respect, especially in the local area as reflected by his selection for numerous prestigious coaching assignments. Prior to his arrival at George Mason, McDonald worked at the Montgomery Dive Club, where he was employed as an assistant dive coach for a national top-10 program. In addition to assisting with the on-deck coaching of children from ages 5 to 18, the program also consisted of top senior athletes training toward the goal of qualifying for the Olympic Trials.
McDonald also served as the head dive coach at the SuperNova Dive Club from 1996-97.
Prior to working with SuperNova, McDonald served as assistant dive coach at the Northern Virginia Dive Club where he helped boost the club to nationally-ranked status for the first time. Prior to his arrival at NVDC, the program had never achieved a top-20 ranking.
Along with coaching, McDonald was a performer for both Global Productions and Florida's Cypress Garden. He performed stunt, springboard, comedy and high diving routines at various parks and festivals around the world. He was the Most Valuable Performer in both 1988 and 1990.
Other awards include being a three-time World Cup High Diving Champion, two-time Mediterranean Cup Champion and a three-time Acapulco Cliff Diving finalist. Since 1996, he has served as a vice president for promotions and special events for Global Productions.
McDonald and his wife, Jane, have two sons, Skeeter Michael, along with a daughter, Christa.