MSU Moorhead Athletics

Todd Peters has been the Minnesota State University Moorhead Head Swimming and Diving Coach since the program’s inception in 1997 and he begins his 21st year as head coach in 2017-18.  Peters has consistently improved the program, pushing his athletes to new pool and school records each year along with qualifying individuals for the NCAA Division II National Swimming and Diving Championships in each of the last 14 years.

Peters literally built the MSUM program from the ground up, starting with just 11 swimmers.  Through the years, Peters has been a part of building a new pool, adding a diving program and hiring two full-time assistant coaches.   A huge part of this success can be attributed to the Dragon Swim School, a year-round aquatics instruction program Peters implemented in the summer of 1998.  Dragon Swim School has grown to become the largest aquatics lesson program in the Fargo-Moorhead area teaching over 800 students each week and employing over fifty MSUM students each year, including many team members.
 
Peters strives to offer a swimming and diving experience profoundly different from other teams, promoting a total team concept and integrating swimmers and divers whenever possible.  Quality swimming and diving, with an intense emphasis on proper technique, is the foundation that all other components are built upon.  Conditioning becomes an integral part of the equation after each swimmer and diver has learned how to analyze their techniques and improve their abilities and efficiency.  Dragon swimmers have become known for their superior strokes and fast starts and turns, while Dragon Divers learn to both finesse and muscle their way to successful dives. 

Coach Peters’ stroke technique expertise has become well-known in the region as he has been a featured speaker at the Upper Midwest Swim Coaches’ Clinic, the National Aquatic Institute, the Minnesota Swimposium and five times at the North Dakota High School Coaching Clinic. Peters has also been a camp clinician at high schools and colleges in South Dakota and Minnesota. Peters holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from NDSU and a Masters in Business Administration from Minnesota State University Moorhead. Peters has also achieved American Swim Coaches Association Level 3 certification.  This certification level is attained by only 15% of the swim coaching population.

A native of Austin, Minn., and a graduate of North Dakota State University, Peters was the boys swimming and diving coach at Moorhead High School from 1991-1997 and the girls swimming and diving coach at Fargo South High School. He also tutored Jay Schindler, the Spuds’ first individual state champion who later earned athletic and academic All-American honors at Iowa State University and qualified for the 2000 United States Olympic Trials.

At Fargo South, Peters supervised a program that attracted as many as 70 athletes, including four-time North Dakota State Champ Christina Traen. Peters also spent time coaching both the Moorhead Marlins and West Fargo Flyers, helping both clubs to hire their first full-time, permanent head coaches.

A member of the Austin School Swim Program from 1979-85, Peters served as team captain as a senior and won the Hardest Worker award three times. After graduation he gained his first coaching experience as Austin's junior high swim coach. Peters concentrated on his studies for the next three years at NDSU before returning to the pool and competed on the last varsity swim team for the Bison in 1989-1990. He later co-founded and served as the president of the NDSU Swim Club.

Peters served as the NCAA Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Rules Committee Chairman from 2012-2017. Peters completed a five-year term as the diving representative on the NCAA Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Committee from 2007-12. The rules committee monitors, discusses and makes changes to the swimming and diving rules book.

The veteran coach has been part of several sweeping changes to Division II swimming and diving, included the creation of new swimsuit rules, implementing a cap to the number of qualifiers for the Division II swimming and diving nationals (which created a new selection process and new time standards), and numerous changes to the Division II National Diving meet.

Peters enjoys music, reading, and competes in various events such as half and full marathons, triathlons, and plans to complete an Ironman in September 2017.  His two oldest children graduated from MSUM, while his youngest son is attending North Dakota State University.