Claire McDaniel was named the head coach of the Colorado School of Mines men's and women's swimming program in September 2019. In the six seasons since, she has reinvigorated the program, making Mines a RMAC contender and consistently qualifying individuals for nationals as well.
During her time at the helm, McDaniel has won RMAC Coach of the Year four times on the men's side (2021, 2022, 2024, 2025) and three consecutive years on the women's side (2021, 2022, 2023). She coached the RMAC Women's Swimmer of the Year in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. She also coached the RMAC Women's Freshman of the Year in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Overall, McDaniel has helped Mines send a total of 29 individuals and nine relays to the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships resulting in a total of 27 all-American finishes. Furthermore, McDaniel's women have broken all but one program swimming record (22 of 23) along with 10 facility records. Her men have broken 20 of 23 program records including every relay mark while adding 13 facility records. McDaniel's teams have also succeeded in the classroom as proven by 17 College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-Americans. Her men's teams in 2020-21, 2022-23, and 2023-24 also won the RMAC Brechler Award as the team boasting the highest combined GPA in the conference.
McDaniel's first season on the deck in 2019-20 at Mines was a huge success as both Oredigger teams placed second at RMAC Championships and qualified four individuals and one relay to NCAA Championships. Despite the cancellation of nationals due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mines had six swimmers named CSCAA All-Americans led by RMAC Swimmer of the Year Mia Wood, who swam the nation's fastest 200-free and was the NCAA silver medalist in the 1,000-free. The Mines women finished the season ranked #17 and the men #22 by the CSCAA, and both teams earned academic honors from the coaches' organization.
The shortened 2020-21 season, McDaniel's second at Mines, had plenty of success as she was named the RMAC Coach of the Year for both the men's and women's programs. Both teams finished second at RMAC Championships and Mines qualified three swimmers to NCAA Championships, including all-American Robert Clayton and RMAC triple champions Meghan Slowey and Jorie Selig. Slowey was named the RMAC Swimmer of the Year and Selig the RMAC Freshman of the Year.Â
McDaniel repeated as the RMAC Coach of the Year in 2021-22 for both the men's and women's programs as the Orediggers again finished second at RMAC Championships and produced three individual qualifiers and one relay qualifier to NCAA Championships. Co-RMAC Swimmer of the Year Meghan Slowey went on to be an all-American in the mile, and Mines minted an RMAC Freshman of the Year for the second consecutive season thanks to Olivia Kisow.Â
In 2022-23, McDaniel helped the men and women make program history. Not only was she named RMAC Coach of the Year for the Women for a third straight year, she also brought the largest contingency to nationals in program history. Thirteen Orediggers competed in 23 individual events and six relays resulting in seven all-America finishes. The top finisher was RMAC Swimmer of the Year Meghan Slowey who made her second straight podium, finishing fifth in the nation in the 1650-free. Jordan Tierney, Kerrigan Hemp, Annie Osmun, Jorie Selig, Emi Jedryka, Garrett Waite, and Charles Burroughs earned all-America status as well. At the conference meet, the women finished second and the men took third. Slowey earned RMAC Swimmer of the Year for a third straight season, and Jordan Tierney gave Mines its third consecutive RMAC Freshman of the Year on the women's side.
The 2023-24 campaign brought more history to the program under McDaniel's guidance. She led the men and women back to a pair of runner-up finishes at the RMAC Swimming & Diving Championships and won RMAC Coach of the Year for the men for a third time. Six individuals (three men, three women) and one relay qualified for the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships. The final result was six all-American finishes including a podium appearance from Jordan Tierney who took national bronze in the 100-breast. Mines' men finished tied for 34th in the nation thanks to six team points. The Oredigger women placed 25th in the nation thanks to the most points at a NCAA meet in program history with 29. Overall, McDaniel's men's squad combined to break nine program records and four Mines pool records during the 2023-24 season. The women took down nine program records as well and updated six facility records.
During the 2024-25 season, Mines' men combined for team silver at the conference meet while the women won bronze. McDaniel was again voted the RMAC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year. Her men also tied for 25th in the nation thanks to Vladislav Kazakin's pair of all-American swims. Overall, two men and three women competed for the Orediggers at the national meet. Kazakin's NCAA debut was the most successful appearance for a Mines man since 2005. Kazakin also highlighted the RMAC meet by winning gold in the 1000-free and 500-free. Overall, Kazakin put his name in the program record book seven times in his first collegiate season under McDaniel's guidance. Those performances added to a total of 14 adjustments to the men's program/facility record book while the women made four edits to the all-time top marks in program history.
McDaniel brought a diversity of experience in the swimming and nutrition fields to Mines, including assistant coaching stops at the University of Denver, UNC-Asheville, and the Swiss National Team and sports nutrition positions at Missouri and Stanford. Most recently at DU, she coordinated recruiting for the women’s program, handled travel logistics and equipment, and was the head distance coach for the program. McDaniel held a similar role at UNC-Asheville in 2013-14, and also spent two years as an assistant coach in Switzerland where she assisted coaching swimmers on the national junior team.Â
McDaniel has extensive experience and education in sports nutrition, holding a bachelor’s degree in dietetics and a master’s in foods and nutrition & exercise physiology, both from the University of Georgia. At Missouri, she was the assistant athletic director of performance nutrition in 2017 where she worked with all 20 Tiger teams. At Stanford, she was a sports nutrition consultant from 2012-13 working closely with women’s gymnastics.
As a swimmer, the former Claire Maust was a standout at Georgia, winning the 2006 NCAA Division I 800-freestyle relay title. She was a part of UGA’s 2005 NCAA and 2006 SEC team championships, and captured the 2007 SEC crown in the 500-freestyle. A five-time all-American and four-time Scholar All-American, McDaniel was a finalist for the 2007 NCAA Woman of the Year award and a recipient of the NCAA and SEC Community Service post-graduate scholarships. She was elected co-captain of Team USA for the 2007 World University Games where she placed fourth in the 400-free in guiding the Americans to the team win.
