Rachel grew up swimming on her local club teams, The River Rats and Chemung Sailfish of Horseheads and Elmira, NY, respectively, and continued to swim through her time at Mercersburg High School (Mercersburg, PA). While studying at the University of New Hampshire Rachel joined the Great Bay Master’s (GBM) swim team and competed both as an athlete and a coach for 12 years. During her tenure competing for GBM, Neild placed 4th nationally in the 3000-yard challenge in the 25-29 age group.
Coach Rachel is also a seasoned age group coach, having contributed to the Portsmouth Swim Team (PST), Exeter Swim team (EST), and Seacoast (Dover) Swim teams (SST) for over 13 years. Throughout this time, Rachel also worked as a missileer and logistics officer (O-4) for the US Air Force (USAF), serving her country for an impressive 13-year tenure. As a civilian, Neild has worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as an Assistant Fishery Manager and served on the New England Fishery Management Council for 4 years.
Rachel has recently matriculated into the Master of Public Health (MPH) program at Tuft University School of Medicine and hopes to join the U.S. Public Health Service Corps after graduation. In her spare time, Coach Rachel likes to garden, swim, hike, try new recipes and hang out with her doxie dog, Ava and two cats, Max and Henry.
