Roland McDonald Named MW Diving Coach of the Year
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The San Diego State swim and dive program continued to receive recognition from the Mountain West for another highly successful season, as Roland McDonald garnered MW Diving Coach of the Year accolades. The announcement was made Thursday by the league office.
With his honor, McDonald was named the MW’s top diving coach for the third year in a row and fifth time in his 16 seasons with the Aztecs after earning the award in 2019, 2020, 2024 and 2025. He is also the third coach in league history to merit at least five conference Diving Coach of the Year plaudits.
McDonald’s divers played a key role in SDSU’s fifth consecutive Mountain West championship and league-record 10th title overall.
Under McDonald’s tutelage, Isabella Gomez, Belen Cano and Alina Skrocki earned all-Mountain West honors with top-eight finishes at the conference meet in the 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and platform events, while Keira Kuderka received the same recognition in platform competition.
Gomez captured a gold medal from the platform height at the MW Championships to go with a pair of bronze medals on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. Not to be outdone, Gomez joined forces with Cano and Skrocki to win a gold medal in team diving competition, the first year the event was scored at the league meet.
During the season, McDonald’s charges produced seven career top-10 marks in program history, including three in the platform event, with Gomez’s winning mark of 306.30 at the MW Championships ranking second, while Cano’s fourth-place score of 292.75 at the conference meet is slotted fourth on the school’s all-time charts. Additionally, Skrocki posted a mark of 291.05 at the NAU Lumberjack Invitational last November, which ranks fifth.
In all, six of McDonald’s pupils qualified for at least one event at the NCAA Zone E Championships, including three freshmen in Cano, Meja Palmer and Sophia Hineline.
Prior to his arrival at San Diego State, McDonald was a three-time Diving Coach of the Year in the former Colonial Athletic Association at George Mason University.