CBU Athletics

The architect behind all of California Baptist University’s success in aquatics, Rick Rowland started the swimming and water polo programs in 1999-2000 and is now entering his 21st season as head coach of both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams.

Rowland also led CBU men’s water polo team through its first 16 years of existence (1999-2015) and women's water polo through its first eight seasons (2000-2007).

In swimming, both Rowland's men's and women's swim and dive teams have combined for nine NAIA National Championships over the course of his tenure with the men winning four (2006-09) and the women winning five (2005-08, 2011). Since transitioning to NCAA Division II in 2013-14, nine of Rowland's 10 squads have completed top-14 finishes in their division. The men accomplished the program's top finish in the NCAA as national runners-up in Division II in 2018.  

CBU has produced four individual NCAA champions, with three on the women's side. Buse Topcu won the 500-yard freestyle (4:47.14), Christie Halverson won the 1000 free (9:00.51.96) in 2016 and Mary Hanson won the school’s first individual NCAA champion in the 100 backstroke (52.45) in 2014. Scott Tolman won the first NCAA title for the men in the 200 breast (1:55.09).

Rowland was named 2001 NAIA Coach of the Year as both teams placed second. He also earned women's Coach of the Year honors in 2006 and 2011, and was named Men's Coach of the Year in 2008. He was also named the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) National Invitational Championship (NIC) Men's Coach of the Year in 2018-19.

His men have won 67 individual national championships and 14 relay titles, while the women have won 44 individual crowns and six relay races. Under Rowland, 85 different men and 80 different women have earned All-American honors.

Since making the jump to NCAA competition, Rowland's teams have won seven Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles in three years. In 2016 and 2018, the Lancers swept both the men's and women's crowns. The women won all five RMAC titles from 2014-18, while the men never finished worst than second. Rowland was named the RMAC Women's Swimming/Diving Coach of the Year in 2014, 2015 and 2017 and added the Men's Coach of the Year honor in 2016 and 2018. 

In 2018-19, CBU's first season in its transition to NCAA Division I, the Lancer men took second place in the Western Athletic Conference and at the CSCAA NIC. The women took fourth in the WAC and 21st in the NIC. 

Rowland started on campus during the 1998-99 season as Director of Aquatics and spent one year recruiting and starting the program from scratch. Previously, he coached at Santa Margarita High School from 1993-98 and Villa Park High School from 1988-93. He was also a high school and intermediate school teacher during this time.

From 1982-85, Rowland was the assistant coach for men's water polo and swimming at Pepperdine, his alma mater (his father, Rick Sr., was the head coach). Rowland graduated from Pepperdine with a bachelor's degree in physical education and kinesiology in 1981. He was a standout swimmer and water polo player there while playing for his father.

Rowland also earned a master's degree in education from Azusa Pacific in 1999. He and his wife, Teri, have two children Trevor and Meghan.

Rowland's Swim Teams at the NAIA Championships

Rowland's Swim Teams at the NCAA Championships

CBU men's water polo competed against the nation's top programs under Rowland, and was a part of the national ranking system that includes all NCAA schools. The men's team has regularly been ranked in the top 20 during Rowland's tenure, and the 2011 season's ranking of No. 13 was the highest in program history.

This past year, the Lancers joined a conference, the Western Water Polo Association, for the first time in program history and finished 15-17 overall, with four wins over ranked opponents.

In 15 seasons, Rowland has led the men's team to an overall record of 334-174 (.657) and a record of 284-158 (.642) against four-year varsity programs. He collected his 300th career win as the men's coach with a 12-7 win at Vanguard on Nov. 11, 2011. In 2007 and 2008, CBU hosted and claimed the NAIA Men's Water Polo Invitational Tournament.

Rowland's women's teams went 162-106 (.604) overall and 147-101 (.593) against varsity teams in the first eight years he ran the program before handing the program over after the 2007 women's season. Combined, he has a career record of 496-280 (.639) overall and 431-259 (.624) against varsity teams.

He has coached six AWPCA All-Americans on the men's side and eight AWPCA All-American honorable mentions (seven men, one woman); a list that includes the top players in the NCAA. He has had a total of 114 players (70 men, 44 women) be named to the AWPCA All-Academic Team and has also had four men's players named to the CoSIDA All-Academic All-District Team.

In terms of combined wins he captured his 100th career victory Feb. 24, 2001 with a 13-9 overtime win against Redlands on the women’s side. His 200th win came three years later on the men’s side with a 12-6 win over Arizona, Oct. 22, 2004. Rowland won his 300th career game in 2006 against Iona (12-5), March 10. He notched his 400th career victory over Golden West Community College on October 6, 2009.

Rowland's Career Head Coaching Record