The holder of nearly 30 years of collegiate coaching experience, Michael "Mickey" Wender was named as the Colorado Mesa University Head Coach for the Swimming & Diving and Triathlon teams in July of 2019.
In his first year with the Mavericks, Wender led the Maverick swimming and diving teams to Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles as the CMU women set a conference-championship point scoring record. Those teams also combined to earn more than 100 All-RMAC honors and Wender was personally named as the RMAC Co-Men’s Coach of the Year.
The Mavericks also qualified the most comprehensive team to the NCAA Division II National Championships, which were canceled on the second day of the meet after COVID-19 concerns and later had 19 different student-athletes combined to earn CSCAA (College Swimming Coaches Association of America) All-America honors.
Meanwhile, the Maverick triathlon team won a second straight West Regional qualifier title before finishing fourth at the USA Triathlon Women’s Collegiate National Championships.
Academically, the Mavericks also shined with 30 swim and dive team members earning CSCAA Scholar All-America honors, including a national-leading 18 women. Three triathletes were also similarly honored by the CTCA (College Triathlon Coaches Association).
"We are very excited to have Coach Wender as the fourth head swimming coach in the history of our Swim and Dive program and the second head Coach of the Triathlon team," CMU Co-Athletic Director Kris Mort said about Wender’s hiring. “We believe that his experience and success of guiding student-athletes both in the pool and in the classroom will continue to lead both of these programs on the trajectory towards contending for national championships in Division II while maintaining academic success."
Wender has racked up more than 400 wins in his 28 total years as a collegiate head coach. Prior to coming to CMU, Wender had served at Division I Army West Point, where he coached the Black Knights from 2006-19. He had also been the head coach at the University of Washington from 1998-2006 after a 1992-98 stint at the University of California, Santa Cruz from 1992-98. Additionally, Wender served as the head coach for American Samoa at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
He began his collegiate coaching career at Cal State University Northridge, where he assisted NCAA Coach of the Decade Pete Accardy from 1990-92 after serving as the coach at Sachem (N.Y.) High School the previous year.
Wender has developed swimmers to qualify for NCAA Division I Championship meets in every event and was named as the Patriot League Swimming Coach of the Year three times at Army West Point, most recently in 2017. His swimmers have broken all of the existing school records at every previous school he coached and have earned conference championships in over 50 different events.
He has also produced several swimmers who ranked in the Top 100 in the world and has coached swimmers at every U.S. Olympic Trials since 2000.
A personal triathlon enthusiast, he completed two Ironman (1993, 1994) and was a Top 10 finisher in the 1996 Eco-challenge, known as the World's Toughest Athletic Event.
Wender's athletes have also shined in the classroom as his programs have been honored as a Scholar All-America Team by the CSCAA over a dozen separate times while routinely being recognized for the high GPAs, excellence in community service and team spirit.
He also served on the Board of Directors for the CSCAA from 2003-06 and was the President of the Greater Seattle USA Swim Coaches Association from 2002-04 and has spearheaded fundraising campaigns that have raised more than $2 million in total to support and enhance the programs at his previous institutions.
He is a 1989 physical education graduate from the University of Vermont and obtained a master's degree from CSUN in 1995.
Wender and his wife Kate of 22 years are the parents of four children Samantha, Jack & Luke, Grace.
