Swimcloud
NT

Nathan Townsend

Head Coach

What to Know About Coach Townsend Townsend joins Little Rock swimming and diving after a four-year stretch with the McKendree Bearcats, where he helped elevate the team to one of the strongest Division II programs in the nation. During his time, he contributed to the production of 48 NCAA DII Qualifiers and 194 All-American performances, developed 8 NCAA DII individual National Champions and 4 NCAA DII relay National Champions, and aided in coaching the Bearcats to three NCAA DII national records. Alongside McKendree head coach Jimmy Tierney, the men's team improved from 7th in the country to 3rd with Townsend on the staff, while the unranked women shot up to 11th in the nation. He also played a heavy role in recruiting for the program as the only assistant coach on staff. Prior to McKendree, Townsend was the assistant swim coach at Oklahoma Christian University, a Division II program in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from 2018-19 where he coached the Eagles to 143 lifetime best swims and the program's first NCAA B cuts, totaling 9 within the season. He worked alongside Olympic gold medalist and Oklahoma Christian head coach Josh Davis in coaching the first conference champion and first conference newcomer of the year in the school history. Townsend also has experience coaching overseas and at the club level, serving as head coach of the Mills Branch Marlins Swim Team in his hometown of Kingwood, Texas before spending a brief period of time at University College Dublin in Ireland under the work of former Irish Olympic swimmer Earl McCarthy. Townsend graduated in 2017 from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas with a Bachelor's of Science in Kinesiology, where he was a member of the men's swim team. During his time as a student-athlete, he earned All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Team honors from 2015-17, landed on the Dean's List three years in a row, and was named the Director of Athletics Academic Excellence Award winner for four straight semesters. What They're Saying About Coach Townsend "I am happy to have Nathan join the Little Rock Athletics team. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be perfect to help create the next champions in the pool and classroom." - Little Rock Director of Athletics George Lee "Little Rock has hit a massive home run with the hiring of Nathan Townsend as their head swim coach. Nathan has a wonderful passion for the sport and a tremendous desire to learn and improve. He will challenge his athletes yet show as much concern for their well-being and success outside the pool. Little Rock's program will be in great hands and will certainly be on a big upswing in the coming years. The Trojans will be a force to be reckoned with very soon." - McKendree Swimming and Diving Head Coach Jimmy Tierney "I'm excited to bring Nathan on board and bring his energy onto the pool deck. From everything I've seen that he's accomplished at McKendree, he's going to do big things here and continue to move the program in a competitive direction. I know that the team is excited to meet him and get to work." - Little Rock Diving Coach Chris Pape
CP

Chris Pape

Diving Coach

https://lrtrojans.com/sports/swimming-and-diving/roster/coaches/chris-pape/1799