Rory Coleman begins his fifth year as the head coach of the Saint Francis women’s swimming team in 2017-18.
In 2016-17, Coleman led the Red Flash to a program-record 11 dual-meet wins and an 11-8 record. SFU earned its fifth straight winning season and finished fourth at the NEC Championships. SFU finished first at both the Colgate Fall Classic and Northeast Catholic Invitational, earning wins over six opponents, including Boston College, at the Northeast Catholic Invitational.
Freshman Karilyn Quon had two Top Three finishes at the NEC Championships, placing third in the 500-yard Freestyle, with a time of 4:58.75, and 400-yard IM, with a school-record time of 4:24.95. Quon also broke a school-record in the 200-yard Backstroke, with a time of 2:02.35, to place fourth at the NEC Championships.
Freshman Sabrina Bowman finished second at the NEC Championships in the 100-yard Butterfly, with a time of 56.13, while junior Katie Lafferty placed third in the 50-yard Freestyle, with a time of 23.37. SFU finished third in both the 200-yard Medley Relay (1:43.12) and 800-yard Freestyle Relay (7:29.74).
In 2015-16, Coleman led Saint Francis to an 8-7 record, the program's fourth consecutive winning season. The Red Flash finished fourth at the NEC Championships. The team also finished second at the Northeast Catholic Invite, hosted by Boston College.
Sophomore Katie Lafferty earned three Top Three finishes at the NEC Championships. She won the 500-yard Freestyle, with a school-record time of 4:53.19. Lafferty placed second in the 200-yard Freestyle, also with a school-best mark of 1:50.00. She also took third in the 100-yard Freestyle, with a career-best time of 51.00, the second-fastest in program history. Lafferty won three NEC Swimmer of the Week awards.
Sophomore Mary Kish finished third in the 200-yard Breaststroke at the NEC Championships, with a time of 2:16.56, the second-best in school history.
In 2014-15, Coleman guided the Red Flash to 10 victories, tied for the most in a season in program history. The Flash competed without a single senior on the roster and finished fourth at the NEC Championships. The team had its best performance at the Northeast Catholic Invite at Boston College in October, placing second in the eight-team field.
Junior captain Catherine Rogers won the 50-yard freestyle at the NEC Championships, and she also set a pool record at Stokes Natatorium in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.08 against Siena. She also earned an NEC Swimmer of the Week nod in Janurary. Freshman Katie Lafferty won two NEC Swimmer of the Week awards in her rookie year, pacing the Flash in that category.
In his first year in 2013-14, he continued the strong tradition of Red Flash swimming with several high points. The Red Flash set two conference records at the NEC Championships in February. Senior Elise Lofgren broke her own record in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:16.32), while the relay team of Becky Peer, Catherine Rogers, Libby Francis and Danyel Johnson set the record in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:42.47. The foursome beat its own record by .32 seconds from the previous year, as well.
The Red Flash set two conference records at the NEC Championships in February. Senior Elise Lofgren broke her own record in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:16.32), while the relay team of Becky Peer, Catherine Rogers, Libby Francis and Danyel Johnson set the record in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:42.47. The foursome beat their own record by .32 seconds from the previous year, as well.
Rogers and Johnson each won an NEC Swimmer of the Week award while Lofgren joined just a handful of Saint Francis student-athletes to be a back-to-back CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree. The entire team joined in the academic realm, as the Red Flash was named to the College Swim Coaches of America Scholar All-American team in each semester of the 2013-14 school year. That makes eight consecutive years that the Flash have been named to the CSCAA list in both the fall and spring semesters.
Coleman, who also serves as the University’s Director of Aquatics, arrived in Loretto in 2013 after an eight-year stint as a men’s and women’s assistant coach and assistant aquatics director at the University of Delaware.
In his first season at SFU, Coleman inherited a program that has won a record-tying four consecutive Northeast Conference Championships and was recently recognized for earning the nation’s third-highest GPA. The Red Flash lost only two seniors to graduation after last season.
While at Delaware, Coleman most recently coached the distance group while also serving as the team’s recruiting coordinator. He played a key role in Delaware's four straight (2007-11) third place finishes at the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships, marking the highest finish ever by the UD men.
Since his arrival at Delaware, the Blue Hens captured seven top-five team finishes at the CAA Championships and won 14 conference individual and relay championships. Under his tutelage the women’s team broke all 19 school records and turned in a cumulative 77-30 record. During his time at Delaware, one female claimed a conference championship and another accomplished NCAA “B” times for the second time in school history. On the men’s side, Coleman was able to help the team to a 67-30 mark while breaking 17 school records along the way.
During his tenure, the men’s program experienced a revival, winning its first conference dual meet since 2000, its first individual conference championship since 2001, its first relay conference championship since 1992, and had its first NCAA “B” cut in school history. The men raked in a total of 12 individual CAA champions, 19 NCAA “B” cuts and the first two Olympic trial qualifiers in school history. Each year he was able to recruit some of the best swimmers in Delaware’s swimming history with the roster size increasing for both the men and women since his arrival.
With Coleman’s assistance, the Blue Hens swimming and diving teams were also successful in the classroom. During the last 8 years, athletes have been named to the CAA Academic Honor Roll over 150 times.
Before Delaware, Coleman served as the first-ever head coach at Morningside College in Sioux City. Starting from scratch in 2003, he was able to lead the Morningside women’s team to an 11th place overall finish at the NAIA national championship meet in 2004 and a 13th place finish in 2005. The men finished in 11th place at the NAIA national championship in 2005. Thirteen student-athletes qualified in 37 events for the national championship meet under Coleman’s direction. The College Swimming Coaches of America also recognized several student-athletes with All-America and Honorable Mention All-America honors.
Coleman got his start in collegiate coaching at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa as a graduate assistant. He earned a master’s degree in physical education during his stint at Loras.
Coleman attended the University of Findlay (Ohio) where he competed in swimming, club water polo and track & field. He was a NAIA national qualifier before transferring to Keene State College in Keene N.H., where he earned a bachelor’s in social science. While at Keene, Coleman earned All-New England honors and set six school records, establishing marks in the 50 backstroke, 100 backstroke, 100 individual medley, 200 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay, and 400 medley relay.
A native of Fostoria, Ohio where he prepped at Fostoria High School, Coleman was a multi-sport athlete as a member of the swimming, track & field and football teams.
Rory and his wife Kara have two daughters, Amelia (3), and newborn, Ellie.
Rory Coleman File
| CAREER STATS |
| Season |
Record |
NEC Record |
Championship |
| 2013-14 |
5-4 |
1-0 |
4th of 7 |
| 2014-15 |
10-7 |
2-1 |
4th of 7 |
| 2015-16 |
8-7 |
1-3 |
4th of 7 |
| 2016-17 |
11-8 |
1-1 |
4th of 7 |
| TOTALS (4 Years) |
34-26 |
5-5 |
|
