NAME: Deryk Snelling
UNIVERSITY: Calgary
CATEGORY: Coach
SPORT: Men's swimming
HIGHLIGHTS:
Nine-time national champion with UC Dinos
14-time Canada West champion with UC Dinos
Seven-time CIS Coach of the Year
Coached swimmers to 21 Olympic medals
Order of Canada Recipient
BIOGRAPHY:
Deryk Snelling was considered to be one of the greatest swimming coaches on earth.
Snelling spent 16 years at the University of Calgary, creating a Dinos Dynasty. In that time, nine of his men’s teams won national championships, while 11 captured Canada West titles. He coached three women’s teams to conference glory as well.
Swimmers like Tom Ponting, Mark Tewkbury, Graham Smith and Jon Cleveland found great success under Snelling’s tutelage. Snelling also coached CIS Female Swimmers of the Year, Suki Brownsdon and Lisa Dixon.
Snelling was the CIS Coach of the Year an astounding seven times, but it was his work on the international stage that built up his reputation. Snelling coached 60 Canadian swimmers to the Olympics. Of those, 21 came home with medals draped around their necks. He helped his swimmers capture seven world records combined, and wrote literature for others to follow if they also wanted to achieve greatness in the pool.
Snelling created a legacy that lives on at the University of Calgary. The CW Hall of Fame nod is the latest in a lengthy list of accolades.
“It is a great honour for our team and for the Snelling Family. Deryk’s leadership produced so many leaders in many field. His legacy within Alberta Swimming will be present always as he showed the province what high performance swimming really looked like,” said Mike Blondal, Dinos Swimming Head Coach.
Snelling is already a member of four Hall of Fames, including the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He also coached athletes at the Pan American Games, Commonwealth Games, and World Championships.
Snelling was awarded an Order of Canada. He passed away in 2021 at the age of 87.