Joel Rollings - Head Coach - Staff Directory - Marquette University Athletics

Staff Directory

Joel Rollings

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
Phone:
288-1196

Joel Rollings was named the first-ever head women's swimming coach at Marquette University on Sept. 15, 2025 and will build a program from the ground up for the second time in his career.

Marquette announced the addition of women’s swimming as the university’s 17^th varsity sport this past May and will begin team competition in 2026-27.

Rollings arrives at Marquette after serving for the past two seasons as head swimming and diving coach at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), where he oversaw the establishment of both the men’s and women’s programs for the Raiders. The program was recognized as one of the most improved in NCAA Division III in 2024-25 and Rollings was named the Liberal Arts Conference Men’s Coach of the Year.

Over the past 20 years, Rollings has worked with athletes at all levels, including student-athletes who went on to become Olympic Trials qualifiers.

Prior to MSOE, his most recent collegiate stop was at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2018-19), which came on the heels of a 12-year tenure at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (2006-2018). While with the Warhawks, Rollings coached two NCAA champions, 56 WIAC champions, 13 individual All-Americans, three All-American relay teams, and saw his teams break 92 school records. UWW’s Amy Spaay was the NCAA champion and record holder in the 100-yard breaststroke in 2013 and also claimed the 200-yard breaststroke title at the national meet that season.

He earned WIAC men's swimming and diving coach of the year three different times (2008-09, 2012-13, 2014-15) and claimed the same honor on the women's side twice (2014-15, 2017-18).

Rollings was a student-athlete at Milwaukee (1991-93) and earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 1995 and his master’s in liberal arts from Texas Christian University in 1998. While at TCU, he served as a graduate assistant coach with the men’s team, primarily working with the sprinters, as well as a 1998 World Open Water medalist.

Rollings and his wife, Lauri, and their son, Sam, reside in Whitefish Bay. His father, Dr. Harry Rollings, was a professor at MU from 1973-80 in the psychology department, teaching industrial and organizational psychology and human factors engineering.