By: Ryan Kwong

 

Willamalane Swim Club practice is held at Willamalane Park Swim Center where Dan Cole has been the head coach since 2008. This is Dan Cole’s second stint as Willamalane’s head coach with his first being from 1981-1986.

Dan Cole surveys the pool paying attention to swimmers’ technique. Cole started coaching after his sophomore year of college in 1961. He had gone back to his hometown of Lewistown, Idaho and started coaching for a local swim team.

Dan Cole explaining a swim set to a couple of his swimmers. Cole has produced many talented high-level swimmers including 15 High School All Americans, 31 National Qualifiers, 8 Olympic Trial Qualifiers, and 2 NCAA qualifiers.

For five years Dan Cole was the also the head coach at the University of Oregon between 1981-1986. Cole started swimming when he was in elementary school. In his hometown of Lewistown, swimming was a requirement for schools. He says everyone knew how to swim.

Dan Cole answering a question about his written swim practices. Cole writes his own practices each day. Some days he writes multiple practices to focus on different types of swimmers. Before they jump into the pool Cole likes to sometimes put the team through a dryland practice. Dryland can vary from Ultimate Frisbee, workout circuits, and TRX suspension training.