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 three seasons since, she has reinvigorated the program, making Mines an RMAC contender and consistently qualifying individuals for nationals as well.
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.
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 secodn consecutive season thanks to Olivia Kisow.
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.
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.
