BLOOMINGTON, Indiana, May 12. THE longtime czar of Minnesota Golden Gopher swimming is now a Hoosier as Indiana Athletics will announce that Dennis Dale has been hired in a prominent role on the IU coaching staff for the men’s and women’s team.
With Dale no longer being welcome at Minnesota Swimming after three decades of service, an old arch enemy came knocking as Indiana head coach Ray Looze put aside a decade of intense competition with Dale to welcome him to the Hoosier family as a vital member of the staff.
Dale has had an illustrious career, having served at the helm of Minnesota’s program in some capacity for nearly 30 years. The 1967 graduate of Minnesota, Dale finished his career there with seven Big Ten titles, and a run of nearly 30 years putting Minnesota in the top four at Big Tens every single year. He also led his Golden Gopher squads to five straight top 10 NCAA finishes from 2000-04.
Dale’s seven Big Ten titles puts him fifth all time in the historic conference’s charts behind only James “Doc” Counsilman of Indiana (23), Michigan’s Matt Mann (16) and Jon Urbanchek (13) and Ohio State’s Mike Peppe (12).
The six-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Dale wound up being transitioned out of Minnesota with Kelly Kremer taking full and complete control after a few years working together with Dale before taking over as the top coach of Minnesota’s merged program in 2010-11.