Bio

Rachel (Heitkamp) Chaney was a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III champion, eight-time All-American and five-time Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion as a standout diver on the UW-Oshkosh swimming & diving team from 2001-04.

Chaney won the 1- and 3-meter diving titles with scores of 387.05 and 457.05, respectively, at the 2004 Division III Championship in St. Peters, Mo. Chaney, who remains the lone diving national champion in program history, was named Diver of the Meet at both the 2003 and 2004 Division III championships.

Chaney earned Division III All-America honors in the 1- and 3-meter diving all four seasons. Off the 1-meter board, the Homestead High School alumna also finished third at the national meet in 2001, 10th in 2002 and second in 2003. In the 3-meter category, Chaney was ninth in the country in 2001 and 2002 and fourth in 2003.

Chaney dominated her WIAC rivals by winning 1-meter diving titles at the league championship in 2001, 2003 and 2004 as well as 3-meter crowns at the conference meet in 2003 and 2004. Chaney was named Diver of the Meet at both the 2003 and 2004 WIAC championships.

Chaney ranks first in UW-Oshkosh history with her two Division III individual titles and eight All-America awards, and second in school archives with her five WIAC individual titles.

Chaney still holds a UW-Oshkosh record after producing a score of 283.25 for six 1-meter dives on October 31, 2003. She set the 11 1-meter dives record at 428.25 on February 20, 2004, holding that record until Abbi Priestley broke the record on November 12, 2022 with a 455.80 score.

Chaney, who is the owner of seven WIAC Athlete of the Week awards, was selected to the WIAC All-Centennial Women’s Swimming & Diving Team in 2012.

A 2006 graduate of UW-Oshkosh, Chaney is a home educator in Warrenville, Ill. She also was employed as a healthcare recruiter and hairstylist.

Chaney and her husband, Adam, are the parents of sons Jack, Sam, Levi, and Luke.