Delaware Swim Team on Friday announced the hiring of Olympic gold medalist Nelson Diebel as its head coach.
Diebel won gold in the 100 breaststroke (setting an Olympic record) and 400 medley relay (in a world record) at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Diebel’s swimming track record includes silver medals in the 200 breast at the 1989 Pan Pacific Championships and the 1991 Pan American Games.
A native of Illinois, Diebel attended Peddie School in New Jersey, where his 100 breaststroke record at the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming Championships held until it was broken by Reece Whitley in 2015. Diebel excelled at Princeton University, where he still holds one of the program’s top-10 times in the 200 breast through the 2019-20 campaign.
Diebel has coached for more than 20 years at various swim teams and clinics. Most recently, he’s been on the business side of the swimming industry, managing relationships with swimmers for Nike Swim and as the director of marketing for Arena.
“I can’t explain how exciting it is to develop young athletes,” Nelson Diebel said in a team statement. “It is a rare thing to find yourself in a position to do a job you love while surrounded by a dependable support team. When such an opportunity comes along, it’s impossible to turn down. I’m looking forward to the challenge and satisfaction of once again developing young athletes to excel in and out of the pool.”
“Nelson is a tremendous addition to the Delaware Swim Team,” DST founder and original team coach Mike Ramone said in a team statement. “With his world class competitive standing, and his long record of coaching superior swimmers, we are thrilled that Nelson has joined us. We know our swimmers will gain so much, from not only his expertise in the water, but also from his understanding of swimmers as athletes who require a holistic coaching approach.”
DST rose to national prominence under Bruce Gemmell, who in 2012 left to coach with Nation’s Capital Aquatic Club. Sean Dougherty was promoted to head coach then and served in that capacity until 2015.
Sean Killion
I’ve known Nelson for a ling time. Happy for him on his new role!
Julie Bentz Lauderbaugh