M/W Swimming & Diving: Mines at First Chance Invitational – Denver, Colo. – Friday, 11 a.m. [Watch]
M/W Swimming & Diving: Mines at First Chance Invitational – Denver, Colo. – Saturday, 10 a.m. [Watch]

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FINAL PREP
The Colorado School of Mines men's and women's swimming & diving teams close out the regular season this weekend at the First Chance Invitational hosted by the University of Denver. It marks the final preparations for the postseason as the Orediggers head to the conference meet next week in Grand Junction, Colo.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Both days of racing will stream live and for free on DU's YouTube channel. There will also be live results on the "Meet Mobile" application which can be downloaded on cell phones and requires a subscription.
 
WEEKEND FORMAT
This weekend is an unscored invitational. The goals are lows times and high diving scores. The full rundown is listed below.
 
Friday
- 3-meter diving – 11 a.m.
- 1-meter diving – 12:20 p.m.
- 200-medley relay
- 400-IM
- 200-free
- 100-back
- 100-breast
- 200-fly
- 50-free
- 1650-free
- 400-freestyle relay
 
Saturday
- 200-freestyle relay
- 100-free
- 200-back
- 200-breast
- 500-free
- 100-fly
- 200-IM
- Diving 1:30 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The last time Mines appeared in competition was its home finale and Senior Day on Jan. 10. The Oredigger women went up against Western Colorado and won, 164-59, and the men dropped a 181.5-58.5 decision to Air Force. Mines honored their seniors between the diving and the swimming. Bruno Albertoni earned bronze for the men in diving. The women found gold in the 400-medley relay, 1000-free, 200-free, 50-free, 400-IM, 100-fly, 100-free, 100-back, 500-free, 100-breast, and 200-freestyle relay. Charlie Krone won the 200-free for the men.
 
NATIONALLY RANKED
Mines' men and women both improved their national ranking in the latest polls. The women climbed to #11 and the men jumped to #119. Drury's men and Tampa's women topped their respective lists. Colorado Mesa was the only other RMAC squad in the men's poll, slotting at #4. Fellow RMAC squads in the women's rankings included #3 Colorado Mesa and #15 Simon Fraser.
 
REWRITING RECORDS
Earlier this season, the TYR/CMU Invitational produced multiple program records and a major overhaul of the Oredigger record books. On the women's side, Cameryn Schmidt broke the 50-free record, Anna Bream broke the 400-IM record, and four different relay records went down. Mary Flikkema, Schmidt, Kaya Flaherty, and Jordan Tierney teamed up in the 200-medley relay. It was Flaherty, Tierney, Schmidt, and Jennifer Pierson in the 200-freestyle relay. The 400-freestyle quartet was made up of Tierney, Ava LaBrose, Flaherty, and Pierson. LaBrose, Pierson, Michelle Murphy, and Bream rounded things out in the distance relay. On the men's side, Charlie Krone went off and captured Mines' 200-free and 100-fly records. Jakson Winn struck twice in the 50-back and 100-back. The men had three relay records as well. Winn, Joe Hutchinson, Krone, and Dan Berke did the work on the 400-medley relay. Brenden Cook, Winn, Berke, and Jack Fulham toppled the 200-freestyle relay mark. Krone, Cook, Cameron MacMillan, and Vladislav Kazkin were the record-breaking foursome on the 800-freestyle relay.
 
THAT'S NOT ALL
Prior to the mid-season invite, the Orediggers were already slaying records. Vladislav Kazakin brought down the Mines Natatorium record in the 500-free on opening weekend. The return of Oredigger diving saw Bruno Albertoni break the program's best score in the 1-meter, six-dive event in his very first collegiate action. Ava LaBrose provided the women a facility record in the 200-free as well – a mark previously held by Oredigger star Mia Wood.
 
BUTTERFLY EFFECT
A number of program records broken at the TYR/CMU Invitational were reset multiple times between prelims, finals, and relay leadoffs. However, the most exciting exchange was arguably the women's fastest mark in the 200-fly. On the final day in Grand Junction, Colo., the program record in the 200-fly exchanged hands four times. Mikaela Khan started by breaking her own record in prelims of the 200-fly. One prelim heat later, Kaya Flaherty topped Khan's time. Then, during the evening "B" finals, Savannah Karas put her name at the top of the list. In the end, Khan reclaimed her record in the 200-fly by winning the entire event in 2:02.28 which also fell under the NCAA-qualifying standard. Khan's previous collegiate best in the event, without adjustment for altitude, was 2:05.87 against Colorado College.
 
DIVING RETURNS
Earlier this fall, Mines announced the return of men's and women's NCAA Division II diving starting this season. Katherine Andrie will coach and look to regrow the program in the coming years. The history of Mines diving includes 12 all-Americans, an individual national champion, one of the first women in Mines Athletics, and multiple members of the Harry D. Campbell Oredigger Hall of Fame. A few of those hall of fame members include NCAA Division II National Champion Rick Williamson, former head coach Bob McCandless, the 1983 Women's Swimming & Diving team, and the Men's Swimming & Diving teams from 1981-84. That rich history threads perfectly with the current goals of the program and the department.
 
HOW DIVING WORKS
In full disclosure, the author has only recently learned the basics of competitive diving. Fans should note there are numerous nuances beyond what's laid out below. In college diving, there are two basic types of diving competitions – six dive competitions and 11 dive competitions. In those events, divers either perform six dives or 11 dives to collect a total score determined by the judges. The very basic types of dives include forward, back, reverse, inward, and twisting. Those terms refer to how the competitor begins their dive. After determining how the dive starts, there are also somersaults, or rotations. Along with somersaults and rotations, there is the position. The position could be straight, pike, tuck, or free. The later often includes multiple positions. All of those things are announced before the dive through a series of numbers along with a letter to clarify straight, pike, tuck, or free. In six dive competitions, all dives are optional and can be picked by the competitor. In 11 dive formats, there are six optional dives and five voluntary, or designated, dives  Also, everything mentioned above can happen on a one meter board or a three meter board. Mines does not have platform diving. And with that, the author has exhausted his understanding of diving. Good luck.
 
STAFF UPDATES
Mines Head Coach Claire McDaniel bolstered her swimming & diving staff during the offseason. The newcomers include Katherine Andrie, Brad Shannon, and Graham Walker. Andrie, as previously introduced, will serve as the men's and women's diving coach. Shannon arrives at Colorado School of Mines as McDaniel's top assistant. Walker competed as a student-athlete for McDaniel at the University of Denver and has since gained coaching experience around the metropolitan area. The trio joins veteran Oredigger assistants Andy Foley and Colin Fenster.
 
MEET KATHERINE ANDRIE
As referenced above, Coach Andrie will serve as the lead lady for the Mines diving teams. She joins the staff with both an impressive résumé as a diving coach, and a personal familiarity with Colorado School of Mines. Two of her children, Marty and Carlie, attended Mines and competed for the Orediggers. Marty was a nine-time all-American in cross country and track & field and a member of the 2015 Men's Cross Country team which won the NCAA Division II Championship. That team was inducted into the Harry D. Campbell Oredigger Hall of Fame in 2023. Carlie competed in triathlon and for the club water polo team during her time at Mines. On deck, Coach Andrie boasts multiple decades of high school and club coaching experience with stops at numerous high schools in the Denver area including Valor Christian, Littleton, Douglas County, Smoky Hill, and more. She was named East Metro Diving Coach of the Year in 2011 and CHSAA 4A Dive Coach of the Year in 2018.
 
MEET BRAD SHANNON
Shannon arrived in Golden, Colo., over the summer following two years as the head man at William Peace University in North Carolina. He and his staff earned 2024-25 Independent South Swimming Conference Men's Swimming Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding WPU's men to second-place finish at the conference meet while the women took team bronze. The Pacer's 2023-24 squads combined for six gold medals at the ISSC meet and broke nine program records. Prior to William Peace, Shannon was an assistant at the University of Rochester from 2019-23. Additional professional experience includes work as a counselor at both the University of Florida and N.C. State swim camps. Collegiately, Shannon competed at Ohio State University and earned Ohio State and Big Ten Scholar Athlete distinction all four years. He was a USA Swimming Olympic Trial Qualifier in 2016 as well. He owns a bachelor's degree in international studies with a specialization in security and intelligence from OSU. Shannon earned his master's degree from Concordia Chicago in applied exercise science. Fans can read more about Shannon's accomplishments in his online bio.
 
MEET GRAHAM WALKER
Walker joins the Oredigger staff following an elite amateur and collegiate swimming career. Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Walker represented Team Kenya at both the All-Africa Games and the Commonwealth Games. He went on to compete for the University of Denver under coach McDaniel. His high-level performance in the pool also led to serving as team captain his final two years with the Pioneers. Walker's coach career started while he was still in college, teaching swimming lessons, and continued after graduation. He eventually accepted a formal coaching role with the University of Denver Hilltoppers Swim Club in 2022. Since then, Walker coached multiple state champions and program record holders. He returned to DU as an assistant coach in 2024 and helped oversee conference titles and continued competitive success. Fans can also find his bio online.
 
AT THE HELM
Colorado School of Mines Swimming Head Coach Claire McDaniel is in her seventh season at the helm for the Oredigger men and women. McDaniel won her fourth RMAC Coach of the Year on the men's side after guiding the Orediggers to team silver at the 2024-25 RMAC Swimming & Diving Championships. She also owns three RMAC Coach of the Year awards on the women's side. Through six seasons, McDaniel has coached five RMAC Swimmers of the Year, four RMAC Freshmen of the Year, and 27 all-American performances including 23 individual events and four relays.
 
UP NEXT
Following this weekend, the Orediggers head to Grand Junction, Colo., for the 2026 RMAC Swimming & Diving Championships running Feb. 10-14.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines swimming on "X" (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram at @MinesSwimming. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, "X" and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.