Dennis Pursley to be Inducted as Honor Coach into International Swimming Hall of Fame

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Former legendary Alabama swimming and diving coach Dennis Pursley will be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) in October as the organization's Honor Coach for the Class of 2024.

Pursley served as the head coach for the Crimson Tide from 2012 until his retirement from coaching in 2019. He joins former Alabama standout coaches Don Gambril (1983) and Jonty Skinner (1985), who were inducted into the ISHOF as Honor Swimmers. Gambril coached Alabama's men from 1974-90 and the combined men's and women's program from 1980-90, while Skinner competed at UA as a 19-time All-American before coaching under both Pursley and Gambril.

Dennis Pursley at Alabama

Pursley was named head coach of the Crimson Tide in 2012 and served in that role until his retirement in 2019
Under his leadership, the Alabama men placed in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships four times in addition to finishing in the top 15 in six of his seven years at the helm of the program
The women placed six-straight times at the national championships and set school records in 17 of 19 events during that span
Individually, his student-athletes earned two NCAA individual titles and two NCAA relay titles
He coached Kristian Gkolomeev (2015) and Robert Howard (2019) to Southeastern Conference Swimmer of the Year honors, in addition to seeing a trio of SEC Championship Swimmers of the Meet accolades, 12 SEC individual titles and six SEC relay titles
Pursley began coaching under renowned Tide coaches John Foster and Don Gambril in the mid-1970s
As a swimmer for the Tide, he received All-Southeastern Conference honors and captured the 1969 SEC 200 breaststroke title
He earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Alabama in 1972 and 1973, respectively

Pursley's International

A 2006 American Swimming Coaches Hall of Famer, Pursley's career featured stops as the national team director for USA Swimming and assistant coach of the 1980 US Olympic Team and 1979 US Pan American Team, the Australian Institute of Sport and Great Britain Olympic Team, as well as the Brophy East Swim Team in Phoenix, Ariz., Olympian Swim Club in Edmonton, Ontario, the Cincinnati Marlins in Ohio and Lakeside Swim Club in Louisville, Ky.
After his start as an assistant coach with the Tide, the Louisville, Ky., native returned home to coach the Louisville Lakeside Swim Club from an unranked program to a top-10 national finish, before leading the Cincinnati Marlins to three national titles
During the first decade of his career, Pursley's swimmers captured seven world records, 12 American Records and 20 U.S. National Championship titles and several medals in major international competitions - including the Olympic Games and the World Championships
Pursley was named as the first head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 1981, where he led the combined team for two years and the men's team until August 1984
He was appointed the first USA Swimming National Team Director in 1989 and saw the USA team finish first in the medal count in all three Olympiads during his 14-year tenure
After leading the 2000 USA swimming and diving team to what Sports Illustrated described as the greatest team performance of all time with 33 medals, including 14 gold, he was awarded the United States Olympic Committee Chairman's Coaching Award
Pursley was the head coach of the 2012 Great Britain Olympic Team and British Swimming from 2008-12

ISHOF Class of 2024

Honor Swimmers:
- Lars Frölander (SWE)
- Daniel Gyurta (HUN)
- Dana Vollmer (USA)
- 1976 Women's 4×100 Freestyle Gold Medal Relay Team (USA)
  - (Includes Shirley Babashoff, Wendy Boglioli, Kim Peyton*, Jill Sterkel)
Honor Divers:
- Alexandre Despatie (CAN)
- Yulia Pakhalina (RUS)
- Wu Minxia (CHN)
Honor Artistic Swimmer:
- Virginie Dedieu (FRA)
Honor Water Polo Players:
- Carmela "Lilli" Allucci (ITA)
- Vladimir Akimov* (USSR)
Honor Coach:
- Dennis Pursley (USA)
Honor Contributor:
- Dale Neuburger (USA)
Al Schoenfield Media Award:
- Peter Diamond (USA)
ISHOF Gold Medallion Award:
- Alex Blavatnik (USA)

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