Dan Schemmel tapped as new director of men’s swimming

May 15, 2019, 12:01 a.m.

Dan Schemmel will be the new head of men’s swimming, as announced by Athletic Director Bernard Muir on Tuesday. Schemmel arrives on the Farm after three seasons as the head coach of both the men’s and women’s programs at the University of Hawai’i.

“I am incredibly humbled and honored for the opportunity to lead the Stanford men’s swimming and diving program,” Schemmel, a native of Rockford, Michigan, said. “Stanford offers the premier experience in scholar-athleticism, combining a world-class education with the best collegiate athletics department in the country.”

“I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Bernard Muir and sports administrator Tommy Gray for believing in me and providing me with this opportunity. Within this environment of excellence, we will continue to build this program around a culture of integrity and hard work.”

At Hawai’i, Schemmel put together a dominant women’s program that won the MPSF conference each of his three years at the helm. He was also named MPSF coach of the year all three years. On the men’s side, Schemmel returned the Rainbow Warriors to glory, leading the team to its first MPSF championship since 2006. Under his leadership, Hawai’i produced a combined 57 individual conference champions, 42 school records, 20 conference records and seven All-Americans.

“Coach Schemmel is a rising star who has proven himself to be one of the brightest technical minds in the sport,” Muir said. “More importantly, though, he has demonstrated that he is truly invested in the development and well-being of his student-athletes and knows how to promote a healthy championship culture of collaboration, respect and accountability.”

Before taking the top job in Hawai’i, Schemmel was an assistant coach at Wisconsin for five years. He also has previous experience as an assistant coach at his alma mater Michigan State and as a graduate assistant at Arizona while earning his masters degree in educational psychology. While a student at Michigan State, Schemmel was a student-athlete, student manager and a student assistant coach with the swim program.

Schemmel becomes the sixth head coach of the men’s swim team, which, in 102 seasons, has captured eight national championships (1967, 1985-87, 1992-94, 1998) and 64 Pac-12 conference championships.

He succeeds Ted Knapp, who spent a combined 39 seasons at Stanford as a student-athlete, assistant coach, associate head coach and head coach from 2012-19.


Contact James Hemker at jahemker ‘at’ stanford.edu.

James Hemker '21 is a current Senior Staff Writer and former Managing Editor of the sports section. A computer science major, he has made the cross-country journey to the Farm from Baltimore, MD. After being tortured for years by the Washington Football Team, Browns, and Orioles, the wide successes of the Cardinal have shown him that the teams you root for can in fact win championships. Contact James at jhemker 'at' stanforddaily.com.

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