26 - Time SUNYAC Coach of the Year
Men (15) - 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
Women (10) - 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023
42 SUNYAC Team Championships
Men (22) - 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024
Women (20) - 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024
2 Empire 8 Championships
Men (1) - 2025
Women (1) - 2025
Paul Dotterweich is in his 26th season as head swimming & diving coach at Geneseo in 2025-26. Voted the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Coach of the Year on 23 occasions since taking over the program in the 2000-01 season, the men's and women's teams have combined to win 44 out of a possible 50 total conference championships under his tutelage.
Dotterweich has shown time and time again he can lead his team to great things both in competetion and academic, he looks to build on a strong past and make the 2025-2026 season another successful one for the Knights.
In the 2024-2025 season Geneseo had been selected to join the Empire 8 conference and it didn't take long for Dotterweich and his teams to find success. Both the men's and women's teams won the Empire 8 Championship, with both teams also making an appearance at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championship; the men's team placed 21st overall. The Empire 8 Championship win propelled the men's team to 11-straight conference titles, while the women's win granted them 17-straight conference titles. Dotterweich and his assistant coaches success paid off to end this season, granting them the Coaching and Diving Staff of the Year award. Hannah Brockman was also awarded the Empire 8 Torchbearer award, presented to a competing athlete with the highest cumulative GPA. Both men's and women's teams were yet again selected for CSCAA awards, posting team GPAs of 3.27 and 3.45 respectively. The CSCAA also announced its Spring Individual Scholar All-Americans, SUNY Geneseo had 8. On the women's side, Alex Sotek and Alise Hale brought home First-Team honors, while Lauren Savage and Lydia Benjamin earned Second-Team recognition. On the men's side, Trent Makowiec was named to the First-Team, while Alex Palmer, Greg Meder, and Griffin Merkling earned Second-Team honors.
The 2023-2024 built on the success of the previous year. Both the men's and women's teams took home the SUNYAC Championship and once again had a spot at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship. The men's team had won the SUNYAC championship for a 10th straight year following their first place finish. At the NCAA Championships the men's and women's teams finished 16th and 24th, respectively. The Geneseo Knights also swept the SUNYAC major conference awards this season. Jake Nielson as named Swimmer of the Year, Trent Makowiec was named Diver of the Year, and Alex Palmer was named Rookie of the Year. Both the men's and women's teams were once again selected for CSCAA Scholar All-American team honors, with the teams posting GPAs of 3.22 & 3.23 respectively.
The 2022-2023 season saw a great deal of success for both Dotterweich and the swimming & diving teams. Both the men's and women's teams claimed the SUNYAC Championship and moved onto the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. The men's team placed 17th while the women's team placed 31st at the event. Dotterweich helped 11 athletes get named to All-American, 6 men and 5 women. Jake Nielson, Mark Crocker, Jordan Nielson, Sam Matthews, Trent Makowiec, & Jacob Calus took home the honors for the men. While, for the women: Alexis Falvo, Lauren Sposili, Alise Hale, Mackenzie Fischer, & Kimberly MacDonald were selected to be All-Americans. The awards didn't end there, however. Jake Nielson won both Swimmer & Rookie of the Year, while Trent Makowiec won Diver of the Year. Kimberly MacDonald was named the women's Swimmer of the Year and Hannah Brockman won Rookie of the Year. SUNYAC also recognized Sam Matthews as the 2023 Men's Swimming and Diving Scholar Athlete of the Year. 17 school records were also set for the Knights this season, 14 for the men and 3 for the women.
Dotterweich helped his athletes succeed in and out of the pool. Not only did he help coach 11 All-Americans, 2 Swimmers of the Year, 2 Rookies of the Year, and 2 Divers of the Year; The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) also announced that both the men's and women's swimming and dive teams earned Scholar All-American Team honors. The men's team posted a GPA of 3.16, while the women's team posted a 3.53 GPA. In addition, 12 Knights earned CSCAA Scholar All-America honors. On the men's side, Jacob Calus, Jack Cimorelli, Trent Makowiec, and Sam Matthews earned First-Team honors while Greg Meder and Christopher Weber took home Second-Team honors. For the women, Nina Chicatelli, Amaya DiGiovanni, Alexis Falvo, Alise Hale, Kimberly MacDonald, and Lauren Sposili all earned First-Team recognition.
A total of 49 Knights have won 135 All-America certificates during his tenure, including 33 women that have brought home 107 total citations from the NCAA Championships. Abigail Max '15 and Michelle Rodriguez '11 sit in a tie for the most decorated student-athlete in Geneseo history, both with 16 All-America certificates. Most recently, four Knights earned All-America honors at the 2022 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships. Kimberly MacDonald nabbed All-America Honorable Mention on day four as she placed 16th in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:16.46. Ben Ludlow placed 12th in the 200 fly by touching in 1:48.72, earning All-American status. Trent Makowiec placed ninth in the one-meter dive and second in the three-meter dive for All-American status, while fellow diver Ben Wilcox capped off his career by finishing 14th in the three-meter dive for All-American Honorable Mention status.
Samuel Randall '18 capped his Geneseo career with a first-place finish in the one-meter dive at the 2018 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships, becoming just the third student-athlete in Geneseo history to win multiple national championships.
The women's swimming & diving team has been recognized as a College Swimming Coaches' Association of America (CSCAA) Academic All-America Team in 37 of the past 38 semesters, while the men's team has been awarded the honor for the past 14 consecutive semesters. Natalie LaCourt '18 became Geneseo's first female Google Cloud/College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American, while Jeff Doser '18 was named Google Cloud/College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District and each received the SUNY Chancellor's Scholar-Athlete Award in 2018. He graduated as a six-time All-American as well.
Dotterweich graduated from Buffalo State in 1997 and took the reigns of the swimming & diving program at his alma mater later that year. Over the next three years, he helped lead the Bengals back to prominence in the SUNYAC, guiding the women to their highest conference championship finish (third) ever, while the men also notched their best finish (third) in over 20 years.
Dotterweich's undergraduate career was highlighted by being named the first recipient of the McDermott Award for dedication to the program after his junior year before lauding Kissinger Student-Athlete Award recognition following his senior campaign.
A Geneseo, N.Y. resident, he and his wife Jennifer have two sons -- Phillip and Evan.
