Colorado State University Athletics
Women's Swimming & Diving
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- woody.woodard@colostate.edu
- Phone:
- (970) 213-4800
Christopher `Woody' Woodard joined the Rams in 2011 as head coach of the Colorado State women's swimming & diving program.
Entering his 15th season, Woodard has guided the program to 19 school records, 155 entrants into the program's top-10 lists and eight conference champions. He has had two swimmers -- Erin Dawson and Haley Rowley -- be named the most outstanding performer of the championships. At the same time, his program has continued to thrive academically with a host of CSC All-District honorees, a string of seasons with a perfect APR and annual recognition from the CSCAA for Academic All-American teams.
In his 13th season, the Rams took a major step forward, finishing third at the 2024 Mountain West Championships, the first top-three finish at conference since 2002. The performance was highlighted by Erin Dawson, named the meet's Most Outstanding Performer, after the junior broke two individual school records and helped a pair of relays reset the program standard. In total, five school records were reestablished and 27 top-10 marks were new to the record book. Seven Rams earned 14 All-Mountain West honors.
The 2022-23 season saw the Rams extend their unbeaten dual streak to 23 consecutive with an 8-0-1 mark, which stands as the second longest unbeaten streak in program history. The lone tie – the first in program history – came on the road against Northern Arizona. The Rams finished seventh at the conference meet with seven competitors earning All-Mountain West recognition in nine events, highlighted by Amanda Hoffman’s school record of 1:57.07 in the 200 butterfly.
In 2021-22, Woodard led his team to a 14-0 dual record, the first undefeated mark for the squad in 21 seasons. The year was capped by Kristina Friedrichs winning the 100-yard freestyle title at the National Invitational Championships, cementing her place as one of only two Rams in history to rank in the top three in four individual events. The Rams finished fifth at the Mountain West Championships as the team set school records in both the 400 and 800 freestyle relays. A third school record was established when freshman diver Lindsay Gizzi set the 1-meter mark.
The 2021 Mountain West Championships provided a fabulous finish, as his squad re-established the program's point record at the meet, scoring 925 points to place fifth. For the second year in a row, every swimmer contributed to the team total, with 17 Rams scoring in all three of their individual events.
Woodard, a former assistant coach for swimming and water polo at Colorado State from 2000-05, returned to CSU after six years at North Carolina State, where he was the associate head men's swimming coach and an assistant for the women's program.
Woodard has assisted in coaching Olympic gold medalists Amy Van Dyken (2000) and Cullen Jones (2008), and was the primary coach for 14-time Paralympic gold medalist Erin Popovich. Van Dyken and Popovich are former Rams.
During his tenure with NC State, Woodard's swimmers compiled 58 school records, and the women's team placed 29th at the 2009 NCAA Championships. Both the men's and women's squads were named scholastic All-America teams in 2010. Jones, before winning the gold medal in 2008, was the 2006 NCAA champion in the 50 Freestyle.
While an assistant at CSU, Woodard helped coach the Rams to a 37-13 dual-meet record from 2000-05 and produced five Mountain West champions with 14 school records. CSU finished in the top three in the MW each year from 2001-04, including a 10-0 record and a regular-season championship in 2004, the same season the team was an NCAA qualifier. Woodard served as a volunteer assistant with the Rams from 1998-00 while obtaining his master's degree.
Away from the pool, Woodard's teams have set the standard in the classroom. The team posted a perfect Academic Performance Rate for the fifth consecutive tine in the 2017-18 season, landing the Rams as one of the top 10 programs percentage-wise in the country. His teams continuously earn Team Scholar All-American honors from the CSCAA, with multiple student-athletes earning Academic All-Mountain West and Mountain West Scholar-Athlete accolades annually.
Before his time at the university level, Woodard served as the head coach for the Shawmut Aquatic Club, from 1996-98. A native of Buffalo, N.Y., he attended Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y., graduating in 1995. He earned his first coaching job after graduation as an assistant swim coach with Hartwick (1995-96), where he recruited three future All-Americans.
Woodard and his wife Holly have two children: son, Gabriel, and daughter, Elliot.
