A 2017 Northeastern Varsity Club Hall of Fame inductee, Roy Coates enters his 28th season as head coach of the Northeastern swimming and diving program. The four-time Coach of the Year has amassed nearly 200 dual meet victories and the Huskies have tallied 21 winning seasons, including 14 straight seasons of .500 or better records.
Coates has recruited some of the fastest swimmers in program history, including the first-ever CSCAA All-American Megan Clark. Clark became the first-ever swimmer to qualify for three consecutive NCAA Championships and is a two-time CAA Swimmer of the Year. She holds seven school records, including the 50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyle events, as well as the 200, 400, 800 freestyle relays, and 200 and 400 medley relay events. Clark ended her career as an eight-time CAA champion and is the most accomplished swimmer in Northeastern history.
The Huskies have rewritten the record books under Coates direction, setting new times in all 15 swimming events and all five relays. In just the last four years, the Huskies have set new marks in 8-of-13 swim events and 4-of-5 relays. Northeastern has finished inside the top six at the CAA Championships in 11-of-15 seasons, including a program-best fourth-place finish in 2018 with 477.50 points.
Coates continues to recruit elite swimmers and divers with five student-athletes earning CAA Rookie Diver of the Year, Rookie Swimmer of the Year and Swimmer of the Year. Elena Alvarez earned CAA Rookie of the Year in 2006, Candace Young was named CAA Rookie Diver of the Year in 2011 and Elly Morrison earned the same distinction in 2019. Clark earned CAA Swimmer of the Meet in 2018, and was named CAA Swimmer of the Year in 2018 and '20.
Not to be outdone in the pool, Northeastern has been a national leader in the classroom. The Huskies have finished inside the top three in the country in team GPA, posting a team-best 3.905 GPA in the spring 2020, including 11 perfect 4.0 GPAs, and earning CSCAA Scholar All-American for the 12th consecutive semester. Under Coates guidance, NU has attained at least a 3.0 team GPA in 25 straight semesters (Spring 2008 - Present).
Prior to joining the CAA, the Huskies won seven America East Conference championships (1995, '96, 2000, '01, '02, '03, '04) including five straight from 2000-04. The Huskies posted an undefeated season in 2001-02 that was capped off with a win over crosstown rival Boston College. Coates was named America East Coach of the Year four times in 2000, '01, '03 and '04.
Before arriving at NU, Coates was the head coach of the men’s swimming team at Dartmouth College for four seasons (1989-93). He also was an assistant for the Big Green from 1986-1989. During his seven years in Hanover, N.H., Coates was also head coach of the North Country Aquatic Club, a 120-member competitive swim program of athletes ranging in age from four to 80 years.
Previously, he served as head coach at Winchester and Medford High Schools and was an assistant coach of the New England Barracudas. Besides his coaching experience, Coates is a certified Level 4 Coach by the American Swim Coaches Association and has held positions on various swimming committees.
Coates is a native of Medford, Mass., and a 1986 graduate of UMass Boston with a degree in computer science. He earned his master’s in sports leadership from Northeastern in 2008. He resides in Scituate, Mass., with his wife, Marianne, and they have a son, Daniel, and daughter, Caroline.