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Deryk Snelling

Swimming Builder - Inducted 1997

Deryk Snelling is one of the most successful swimming coaches in the history of the sport having placed fifty-seven swimmers on Olympic teams with twenty-one of them earning Olympic medals. Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Honoured Members Tom Ponting, Mark Tewksbury, Cheryl Gibson, and Susan Sloan were all coached by him when competing internationally. Deryk Snelling's swimmers won ten World Championship medals, thirty-eight Pan American medals, sixty-five Commonwealth medals, and twenty-seven Pan Pacific medals. His swimmers have set seven World Records and have won sixty-nine Canadian National Team Championship titles including 400 Individual and Relay Canadian National Titles during his coaching career while living in Canada. Deryk Snelling was Head Coach for Calgary Team Corel, the University of Calgary Swim Club, the University of Calgary Varsity Club, the Etobicoke Swim Club, and the Canadian Dolphin Swim Club before accepting the position of High-Performance Director, Amateur Swimming Federation of Great Britain in 1966. Prior to his departure, he was Head Coach of the Canadian Olympic Team four times, Head Coach of the Commonwealth Games Teams five times, and Head Coach of one World Championship Team. He is the author of "All About Individual Medley" which stresses the importance of training all four swimming strokes. Deryk Snelling was presented with the Order of Canada in 1977. He was named Canadian Swim Coach of the Year on three occasions, and the CIAU Coach of the Year six times from 1982 to 1988. In 1990, he received the 3M Coaching Canada Award.

After Induction

Deryk Snelling coached the University of Calgary Swim Club from 1980 to 1996.  He coached Britain's national swim team from 1996 to 2000.  He returned to Canada, and after a brief retirement, he became the Canadian National Team Development Coordinator. Deryk was inducted into the University of Calgary Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, and was among the inaugural class of inductees of the Canadian Swim Coaches and Teachers Association Hall of Fame in 2014.  He was among 100 people selected for the 2005 Alberta Centennial Salute for Sport and Recreation award.

 

 

Halls of Fame - List

1993 - International Swimming Hall of Fame

1994 - Canadian Aquatic Hall of Fame

1997 - Alberta Sports Hall of Fame

2004 - University of Calgary Sports Hall of Fame

2006 - BC Sports Hall of Fame

2014 - Canadian Swim Coaches and Teachers Association Hall of Fame. (Inaugural year)

 

Awards - List

1977 - Order of Canada

1987, 1988 & 1992 – Canadian Swim Coach of the Year

1982-1988 – CIAU Coach of the Year

1990 - 3M Coaching Canada Award
2005 - Alberta Centennial Salute for Sport and Recreation

Deryk passed away on September 22, 2021