Head coach Rick Pratt enters his 18th season at the helm of the Aggie swimming and diving program. Pratt first came to NM State in 2005, which was also the first season for the program in the Western Athletic Conference.
In his career at NM State, Pratt has coached the program's only two NCAA qualifiers in 2009 and 2012. In his tenure, his teams have set or broken 67 school records, and have claimed 20 individual WAC Championship titles. Pratt has also garnered his share of personal accolades, earning WAC Coach of the Year in 2009, 2010, 2017 and 2019. The program will remain in the WAC headed into the 2022-23 season as an affiliate member. The swim and dive program has finished in the top half of that league during 13 seasons during coach Pratt’s tenure and has finished runner-up 7 times. Â
Pratt’s teams have been just as successful in the classroom as they are in the pool. Since he became head coach, the program has not posted a team GPA below 3.2 and is frequently in the top 10 in the nation in GPA.
Coming off of a hectic year due to the pandemic in 2021 where they finished 2nd in the WAC, the Aggies with their large Senior class finished the 2022 season in Record form. Five School records were broken at the WAC Championship meet and the sprint group lead the way. Three records were broken in one final on the second day of the Championship meet. First with Aimee Burton breaking the 50 free record (22.80) leading off the record-setting 200 free relay (1:31.94) along with senior team-mates Airam Oliva-Aun, Natalia Villa and Neza Kocijan. Next in the same evening, Sophomore Lindsay Puhalski broke the school record in the 200IM (2:01.31). The Aggies capped a strong showing with another school record during the last event of the meet in the 400 free relay. Led by Aimee Burton, Airam Oliva-Aun, Lindsay Puhalski and Neza Kocijan this group smashed the previous record by over 2 seconds with a time of 3:20.06. The Aggies also had a historic dual meet season defeating rivals UNM twice, once in the fall and again in the spring.Â
Pratt came to NM State after two seasons as an assistant coach at UNLV where he specialized in coaching the breaststroke/IM group and recruiting coordinator. In 2004-05, Pratt helped coach both the men’s and women’s squads to Mountain West Conference titles, the first for each in school history.
Prior to his stint as an assistant with the Rebels, Pratt was an assistant coach at Rutgers where he worked with the middle distance and distance swimmers for the Scarlet Knights. He worked with swimmers who lowered 22 school records during the 2002-03 season.
As a volunteer assistant working with the middle distance and sprint groups, Pratt began his coaching career at his alma mater, Alabama. One of the swimmers he worked with, Anne Poleska went on to win the silver medal in the 200 breast at the 2005 NCAA Championships and the 2005 World Championships while also taking the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Pratt also spent two seasons as head coach of the Crimson Tide Aquatics club team.
As a competitor, Pratt was a two-year letter winner and captain of the Alabama swim team until graduating in 2001. While swimming with the Crimson Tide, Pratt was the recipient of the Marshall Shoemaker Award for efforts in practice. He also participated in the 1996 Canadian Olympic Trials.
Pratt, a native of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and his wife, Melissa, have two children, Jacob (18) and Olivia (16).
