bio updated prior to the 2024-25 season
Roland McDonald enters his 15th season as San Diego State's head diving coach.
In his 14 years on The Mesa, McDonald has been named Mountain West Conference Diving Coach of the Year on three occasions (2019, 2020, 2024), leading Aztec divers to 10 individual MW Championship titles, while five competitors have qualified for the NCAA Championships. He has consistently fostered Aztec divers to be some of the best within the Mountain West and the country, with at least one SDSU diver earning all-conference honors every year since his arrival to America’s Finest City.
Under McDonald’s tutelage, Aztec divers contributed to San Diego State’s third consecutive Mountain West championship, highlighted by Valentina Lopez Arevalo, who won gold medals in the 3-meter springboard and platform event while taking home a silver on the 1-meter board.
For her efforts, Lopez Arevalo was named MW Diver of the Meet, marking the third time an SDSU competitor has earned such honors after Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez garnered the same distinction in 2019 and 2022.
In addition, Summer Westmoreland garnered all-Mountain West accolades with a trio of top-eight finishes in all three events.
For the season, all seven of McDonald’s divers recorded at least one NCAA Zone qualifying score, led by Lopez Arevalo, who recorded career-high scores on the 1-meter (328.70) and 3-meter (374.20) boards, both of which rank second in program history.
During the 2023-24 campaign, Lopez Arevalo also earned four Mountain West Diver of the Week honors, while Alina Skrocki received MW Freshman of the Week distinction on one occasion.
With McDonald’s guidance, the Aztec trio of Lechuga Gonzalez (1-meter, 3-meter, platform), Lopez Arevalo (platform) and Westmoreland (1-meter) also combined for five all-conference honors at the 2023 Mountain West Championships, helping the Scarlet and Black tally a league-record 1,638 points en route to another league title.
Lopez Arevalo was victorious in the platform competition with a school-record 350.15 points, which ranks second in MW history, while Lechuga Gonzalez set season-high scores in the 3-meter (338.95), platform (270.25) and 1-meter competition, finishing third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Earlier, Lechuga Gonzalez took home an individual crown in the 3-meters at the NAU Lumberjack Invitational while posting a pair of runner-up placements in the 1-meter and platform, finishing just behind Lopez Arevalo in the latter event.
For her efforts, Lechuga Gonzalez was named Mountain West Diver of the Week award for the fifth time that season.
In 2021-22, McDonald coached eight divers that participated in the Zone E meet, led by Lopez Arevalo, who placed ninth in the platform finals to advance to the NCAA Championship, where she finished 34th in the event overall.
In addition, Lechuga Gonzalez competed in finals of all three events at the NCAA Zone Championships, joining teammate Lopez Arevalo on the 3-meter springboard.
Earlier, Lechuga Gonzalez was named Diver of the Meet at the Mountain West Championships for the second time in her career after winning the gold medal in 3-meter competition to go with a silver from the platform height and a fourth-place finish on the 1-meter board.
In all, Aztec divers combined for seven all-MW honors, helping the Scarlet and Black secure another conference championship with 1,541.50 team points.
The 2019-20 season saw McDonald not only coach Lechuga Gonzalez to another conference Diver of the Year award but saw all seven of his divers earn qualifying marks throughout the season to compete in the NCAA Zone E Championships (the most to qualify for the event in program history). The Aztecs' divers posted eight scores that rank in the program's top-10 efforts in 2019-20, including Lechuga Gonzalez's three program record-setting presentations. Lechuga Gonzalez became just the eighth diver to earn more than one end-of-year conference honor in her career fueled by a fantastic performance at the MW Championship, placing first at the MW championships on the 3-meter board with a score of 382.35 while earning podium finishes in the other two diving events. With her performances at the NCAA Zone E Championships, she became the only MW Diver to qualify for NCAA Championships (canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) on both 1 and 3-meter this season (as well as the only conference diver to qualify on the 1-meter).
Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez stepped onto The Mesa in the fall of 2018 and immediately became the Mountain West’s best freshman diver, becoming McDonald’s first-ever MW Freshman Diver of the Year in his tenure. Gonzalez swept all-MW honors on all three boards while bringing home first-place finishes on the 1-meter springboard, leading McDonald to his first MW Coach of the Year award. Emily Reed and Delaney Gallagher both also saw success on the springboard, with the duo earning all-conference recognition on the platform.
Marie Yacopino was McDonald’s newest emergence in 2017-18, earning all-conference honors on the 1-meter springboard. Nicole Dutton and Ally Caplan continued their previous year’s successes, Caplan sweeping all-MW honors and Dutton earned conference recognition on the 3-meter board for the second consecutive year. Caplan qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive season, earning a 22nd-place finish on the 1-meter board and a 35th-place score on the 3-meter springboard.
Nicole Dutton followed Caplan’s lead as the duo earned all-MW awards in 2016-17, Caplan once again earning recognition for her performances on all three diving events while Dutton saw an incredible performance for the honor on the 3-meter springboard. Caplan became the first Aztec diver since 2012 to qualify for the NCAA Championships with her Zone E Diving performance on 3-meter. She would go on to finish fifteenth in the country at the NCAA championships, earning Honorable Mention All-America accolades.
Ally Caplan and Makena Chamoures continued their success on the springboard in 2016, as Caplan earned All-Conference honors on all three diving events while Chamoures captured conference recognition on the 3-meter springboard.
2014-15 saw the emergence of Alexandra Caplan, Makena Chamoures, and Isabelle Choquehuanca, each earning All-Conference honors while Caplan was the second alternate for the NCAA championships after placing 10th on the 1-meter springboard at the Zone E Diving Championships.
In 2012, McDonald coached Aina Elli, Anna Steiner, Rafaella Suarez, and Kristen Meier to All-Conference honors. Meier was the highest team point diver at the 2012 MW Championships while taking home one gold and two silver medals. Both Steiner and Meier qualified for the NCAA Championships after incredible performances at the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships. With their qualifications at Zones, the Aztecs were the only program with more than one diver to move onto the national championships. Meier went on to score team points for the Aztecs at the NCAA Championships by finishing 14th in the platform event and earning Honorable Mention All-America status.
In 2011, McDonald coached junior Kristen Meier, who was named the MW Diver of the Year after capturing both the one-and three-meter gold medal titles and a bronze in the platform event at the conference championships. Meier went on to compete at the `Zone E Diving Championships and qualified for the NCAA Championships in all three diving events.
McDonald arrived at SDSU after 11 seasons as the men's and women's diving coach at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.
During his tenure at George Mason, McDonald had a total of 29 of his divers qualify for the Zone `A' Championships. Three of his female divers earned CAA Diver of the Year honors and three were named the league's Rookie Diver of the Year while on the men's team, he led the Patriots to one Diver of the Year and four Rookie Diver of the Year accolades.
Beginning his professional coaching career at Virginia Tech University, McDonald coached the Hokies for four years before moving to Northern Virginia to coach club divers for the first time.
After four years of club coaching in the area, George Mason University opened a new Aquatic Center and began the school’s first-ever Swimming and Diving teams. In 1999, McDonald was named the Patriots first-ever Diving Coach and helped build the program from its creation.
McDonald grew up in southeast Michigan where he began his diving career as a high school freshman. Working his way through the high school swimming and diving programs for four years, McDonald graduated with a school-record and Michigan Class B State Championship record, both standing for over 20 years. He attended Clemson University for two years before transferring and obtaining his degree in chemical physics from Michigan State University. He was a two-time Big Ten Conference finalist, an NCAA qualifier and was named Michigan State's MVP.
Roland began his professional diving career after graduating from MSU, a career that lasted for 11 years. Performing in shows nationally in Florida, New York, California, South Carolina, Illinois, Virginia, Georgia, and internationally in Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Japan, Canada. Throughout his career, McDonald was a three-time World Cup High Diving Champion and a three-time Acapulco Cliff Diving competitor, finishing second in 1991 and fourth in 1996.
McDonald and his wife, Jane, have two sons, John (Skeeter) and Michael, along with a daughter, Christa, and a grandson, Axel.