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Head coach Dan Colella began his tenure at Duke with the 2005-
06 season and has since helped to build a program that is continually on
the rise, as the Blue Devil men's and women's swimming and diving squads
have made big strides in each of his two years at the helm.
In 2006-07, the Blue Devil men compiled a record of 4-5 (1-4
ACC), notching one more win than in the previous campaign, while the
women's squad went 5-4 (1-4 ACC) on the year, securing a winning
record and recording five victories for the second straight season. Each
team won an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) dual meet for the second
consecutive year, as both squads began their conference seasons with a 1-
1 record, splitting in a tri-meet with N.C. State and Maryland at Taishoff
Aquatic Pavilion.
On Oct. 24, 2006, freshman Andrew Clark became the first men's
swimmer to garner ACC Performer of the Week honors since 2000, as he
posted two victories in his first collegiate meet, contributing 22 points
to the team score as the Blue Devils defeated UNC-Wilmington in their
season-opener.
At the 2007 ACC Championships, the Duke men placed ninth
while the women took eighth place, two places higher than the squad's
finish in 2006. Freshman Shannon Beall placed seventh in the 100
butterfly finals, while senior Jackie Rodriguez notched an NCAA "B"
standard in the 200 breaststroke preliminaries and went on to place
seventh in the final race.
Colella's first season at Duke saw the men's team match its win total
from 2004-05 and the women's team nearly double their win total from
2004-05. Both the men and the women posted an ACC dual meet victory
for the first time in a number of years - seven for the men and 12 for the
women - at the same meet at Maryland in November. The men finished
the season with a 3-6 (1-4 ACC) record while the women finished the
season at 5-6 (1-5 ACC).
At the ACC Championships in February, the Duke women's team
established three school records and the men threw out two records.
Senior Katie Ness earned All-ACC honors at the event while notching
four NCAA "B" standard times, as her team claimed the ACC Sportsmanship
Award. Ness was also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic
All-District III list.
Colella brought to Duke skills from a successful career as head
coach of the women's swimming program at the University of Tennessee,
where his teams figured prominently on both the conference and
national level for 12 years. Ten of Colella's 12 teams at Tennessee
finished in the nation's top 25, including the 2004-05 team that tied for
24th. At the 2005 NCAA Championships, his team garnered 11 All-
America honors and broke five school records. Colella has coached 34
student-athletes to a total of 143 All-America honors and 18 of his
student-athletes have earned Southeastern Conference titles.
In just his third year of serving as head coach at Tennessee, Colella
guided one of the school's most successful teams to a top-10 showing at
the NCAA Championships where the team finished ninth. Along the way,
Colella's student-athletes picked up 30 All-America nods and Nicole
deMan won the school's first NCAA individual championship in the 50
free.
Colella's teams were known for their academic as well as athletic
achievements. Not only did he coach 15 individual Academic All-Americas,
his team also received the CSCAA Academic All-America Team
Award, earning an "Excellent" designation for GPAs between 3.00 and
3.24.
Colella's coaching accomplishments have not been limited to the
collegiate level, as he has tutored athletes who have competed in the
Olympic Games, Olympic Trials, Pan American Games, Pan Pacific
Games, World Championships and World University Games. Three of his
swimmers made appearances at the 2004 Olympic Trials, and former
Tennessee swimmer Fabiola Molina represented Brazil at the 2000
Olympics.
Colella arrived at Tennessee in 1990 as the assistant women's swimming
coach and served in that capacity until being promoted to head
coach in 1993. From 1986-90 he was the assistant swimming coach at
Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce, Fla., where he helped
guide his team to four NJCAA men's and women's championships. He
taught science at Fort Pierce Central High School in 1985-86 while also
serving as the school's assistant swimming coach.
Colella earned a bachelors degree in natural resource management
and geology from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., in
1984. In addition to being a member of the Order of the Gownsmen, an
academic honor society, and Beta Theta Pi, Colella was a member of the
school's swimming team. He served as captain for two years and earned
three accolades as the team's MVP from 1981-83. Colella earned two
Southern College Athletic Conference titles by winning the 100 and 200
backstroke in 1981. Over the course of his collegiate career, he never fell
below seventh place in the conference in any individual event. Specializing
in butterfly and individual medley events, Colella was the University's
all-time leading scorer in championship meets when he graduated.
Colella and his wife, Victoria, have two children, Henry and George,
and reside in Chapel Hill, N.C. The couple is soon to adopt two daughters,
Ellinor and Caroline, from Vietnam in December 2007.
Colella as Head Coach
Dual Meet Records
Year Record Pct. SEC/ACC NCAA
At Tennessee:
1993-94 4-5 .444 6th 14th
1994-95 5-3 .625 3rd 12th
1995-96 5-3 .625 3rd 9th
1996-97 5-4 .555 3rd 11th
1997-98 4-4 .500 5th 19th
1998-99 5-4 .555 5th 18th
1999-2000 2-4 .333 4th 28th
2000-01 4-5 .444 5th 20th
2001-02 3-4 .429 7th 22nd
2002-03 4-4 .500 5th 18th
2003-04 4-2 .667 4th 28th
2004-05 4-3 .571 7th T-24th
At Duke:
2005-06 (Men) 3-6 .333 9th -
2005-06 (Women) 5-6 .454 10th -
2006-07 (Men) 4-5 .444 8th -
2006-07 (Women) 5-4 .555 7th -
The Colella Family (L-R): Henry, Victoria, George and Dan
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