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Coach Gregg Parini

Image of Gregg Parini

The Denison swimming & diving program has become synonymous with success at the national level and behind that success over the past 28 years has been head coach Gregg Parini.

Since taking over both Denison programs in the fall of 1987, Parini has gone on to build one of the most consistently successful programs in the history of Division III athletics.  Under Parini’s watch his teams have captured three national championships, 16 national runner-up finishes in addition to Denison’s current streak of 56 consecutive top-10 national finishes.

At the conference level, Parini has coached Denison to 16 conference titles and has earned the North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award, 16 times.  DU has produced over 350 All-Americans that have racked up over 2,000 All-American swims.  Twenty-four Denison swimmers and divers have been awarded the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and in 2004, former Denison swimmer Darius Grigaliunas swam in the Olympics as a member of the Lithuanian team.

In addition to his success in the coaching ranks, Parini’s career as an educator and Associate Professor at Denison has been equally impressive.  In May of 2011 he was honored by the Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America as the recipient of the National Collegiate and Scholastic Trophy which is the highest award bestowed by the CSCAA.  In 2007 he was awarded the Charles A. Brickman Teaching Excellence Award which is given annually to one faculty member who has demonstrated a vibrant interest in the learning process, as well as an understanding of teaching as a continuously evolving art form: someone who embraces the teaching and mentoring of students, not just as a profession, but as a calling.

He is a 1982 graduate of Kenyon College where he was a member of Jim Steen’s first national championship team in 1979. A tri-captain for the 1981-82 season, he led the team to its third NCAA crown in as many years. Parini was an 18-time All-American, a seven-time Division III National Champion, and left Kenyon with five national records. He was voted the team’s most valuable swimmer in 1981 and Senior Athlete of the Year in 1982 by the Lords athletic department.  In May of 2002 he was inducted into Kenyon College’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

 
Some of Parini’s most outstanding accomplishments in coaching include:

  • 2001 NCAA Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Champions
  • 2011, 2012 NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming & Diving Champions
  • 56-straight top-10 finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships
  • Coached over 350 All-Americans to over 2,250 All-American performances
  • Coached 22 swimmers who have gone on to earn NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships
  • Coached four swimmers to US Olympic Trial Qualifying Performances in 11 events
  • Coached one athlete (Darius Grigaliunas) to the Olympic Games in Athens (2004)
  • Coached 46 consecutive Denison teams that earned Team All-Academic honors
  • Coached 150 plus individual All-Academic performers at Denison
  • Led Denison’s Men’s Swimming to NCAC titles in 1997, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.
  • Led Denison’s Women’s Swimming to NCAC titles in 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.
  • 16-time North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming Coach of the Year
  • 9-time NCAA Division III Swimming Coach of the Year