Nate Rothman enters his 10th season as Colorado School of Mines head men’s and women’s swimming coach in 2019-20.
Following a brief stint as interim head coach, Rothman was appointed to his current role in May, 2010. Previously, he served as assistant men's and women's swimming coach for two years.
Mines qualified two swimmers to NCAA Championships in 2018-19 as both Daphne Williams and Mia Wood earned all-America status for the second straight year; in 2017-18 the Orediggers qualifying three swimmers to NCAA Championships as Wood notched all-America finishes in the three distance freestyle events, Williams was an all-American in the 100-fly, and Sam Knott made his NCAAs debut in the 100- and 200-breaststroke.
The 2016-17 season was a memorable one for Mines swimming as Wood became the first women's all-American swimmer and RMAC champion since 2010. She was twice minted an all-American at NCAA Championships as Mines sent nine swimmers to NCAA Championships overall, the most in Rothman's tenure.
Zack Gertig became the first RMAC swimming champion in Rothman's tenure in 2014, winning the 200 freestyle in 1:39.07 after establishing the conference record and a NCAA "B" standard 1:38.89 during preliminaries. Gertig and Melissa Ashwood both garnered invites to the NCAA national championships, where Gertig finished 44th in the 200 free and 55th in the 100 free and Ashwood scored a six-dive personal-best 212.6 on the 3-meter board and 207.1 at 1-meter in the Qualification Diving Meet.
The Orediggers continued their academic prowess under Rothman in 2013-14 as eight swimmers were voted RMAC First Team All-Academic and six received CSCAA Honorable Mention Scholar All-American merit.
The men and women were each named to the CSCAA Scholar All-America Team lists during the fall and spring semesters. The Oredigger men, the two-time Brechler Award winner as the top GPA in the RMAC, were one of only 33 Division II programs recognized during the spring behind a collective GPA of 3.24, while the women were one of 58 teams named to the list with a 3.27 GPA.
Mines was the lone RMAC program to earn recognition in both men's and women's classifications.
In 2012-13, Rothman directed the men and women to respective fourth- and fifth-place finishes at the RMAC meet, totaling nine school records and five all-conference efforts, including Third Team laurels by the men’s 200 medley, 400 free and 800 free relays. Gertig, a two-time NCAA qualifier, placed 31st in the 200 free and 46th in the 100 free at the Division II races, while Matt Bisping was named the first of five alternates and one of two in the 100 breast for the meet.
Away from the pool, the teams combined for 11 RMAC All-Academic and four CSCAA Honorable Mention Scholar All-American selections. The men earned the inaugural Brechler Award as the conference’s top academic swimming and diving program and ranked inside the top-three in the CSCAA Scholar All-America standings for a third consecutive semester, occupying No. 3 with a cumulative 3.33 team GPA.
Named the RMAC Men's Swimming & Diving Coach of the Year in 2010-11, Rothman coached the Orediggers to several impressive performances at the conference meet, including 18 program records and 17 “B” standard times to rank third and sixth overall, respectively. The men established five school records with 13 individuals timing “B” cuts, while the women had 13 new program marks and four "B" times. Sarah Moore, the RMAC diving champion at 1-meter and runner-up at 3-meter, was named RMAC Diver of the Year and RMAC Diver of the Meet and twice earned All-American honors at the NCAA Championships.
In his first season, Rothman oversaw All-Americans Angel Forsling, Kevin Shaw and Andrew Zerwick. Zerwick, a two-time All-American in the backstroke at the 2010 NCAA Championships, earned 13th in the 100 and runner-up in the 200 – the highest finish in the event at the national meet by an Oredigger swimmer and second-highest showing overall.
Prior to arriving at Mines, he led the University of Colorado club team to back-to-back ASA National Championships in 2007 and 2008.
Rothman was a three-year letterwinner at Arizona and twice ranked in the top-10 at the Pac-10 Championships, placing ninth in the 400 IM in 2005 and ninth in the 200 back in 2006. He earned his undergraduate degree in art history from the University of Colorado-Denver in 2009.
A graduate of Evergreen High School, he was an eight-time NISCA All-American and four-time state champion for the Cougars swimming program.
