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