University of Tennessee Athletics
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October 22, 1999 | Women's Swimming & Diving
DAN COLELLA
Head CoachEntering his eighth year as the head coach of the Lady Vol swimming program, Dan Colella is eager to see his team make headlines during the 2000-01 campaign.
Returning three All-Americans and a crop of experienced swimmers, Colella's team is looking to make news within the Southeastern Conference and at the NCAA Championships. Last year, the Lady Vols finished fourth at the SEC Championships, the team's highest finish since placing third for three consecutive years from 1995-97.
In his tenure at Tennessee, Colella has led his squads to top-20 finishes at the NCAA Championships nine times with the lone exception coming with a 28th-place finish in 2000. Colella has also seen six SEC Champions over the last ten years in swimming alone.
While with the Lady Vols, Colella has guided a number of individuals to national prominence, as 95 swimmers have achieved All-America honors. The most notable of all of these recipients would be Tennessee's first swimmer to capture a national title, Nicole deMan. She won the 50y freestyle crown in 1996 and notched 20 career All-America nods, including 15 under Colella, and was named All-SEC all four years.
In addition to his collegiate work, Colella has also been active on the national and international level. He has coached athletes who have appeared in the Olympic Games, Olympic Trials, Pan American Games, Pan Pacific Games, World Championships and World University Games. In 2000, three Lady Vols competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials, including Monica Shannahan, Pam Hanson and Valerie Conte. Former UT swimmer Fabiola Molina represented Brazil at the 2000 Olympics, as she competed in the 100m back and 100m fly in Sydney.
Before his stint as head coach of the Orange and White, Colella was an assistant coach with the Lady Vols. He helped the team to a record of 22-10 during three seasons from 1990-93.
Prior to coming to Knoxville, Colella enjoyed a successful turn as an assistant coach at Indian River Community College in Florida from 1986-90. During his years with Indian River, he helped the team win NJCAA national men's and women's championships in each of his four seasons.
At the club level, Colella has been successful in re-establishing the Tennessee Aquatics Club, where he has guided his swimmers to success on the Junior and Senior National levels.
Much of Colella's success as a coach can be traced to his experience as a swimmer in high school and college. A graduate of St. Andrew's School in Boca Raton, Fla., Colella was the school's Most Valuable Swimmer in 1980. The Southington, Conn., native then attended the University of the South (Sewanee), where he graduated in 1984 with a degree in natural resource management and geology. At Sewanee, he was a member of the Order of the Gownsmen, an academic honor society, and Beta Theta Pi.
In addition to his work in the classroom, Colella was also a four-year swimmer for the Tigers and served as team captain for two years. He also earned the team's Most Valuable Swimmer nod on three occasions. Colella won two Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference titles in 1981 (100y and 200y backstroke) and never finished lower than seventh in the conference in any individual event. He specialized in butterfly and individual medley events his last three years at Sewanee. At the time of his graduation, he was the school's all-time leading scorer in championship meets.
Colella enjoys water sports and listening to music in his free time and resides in Knoxville with his wife, Victoria, and their three dogs: Sunny, Ellie and Jack.
The Colella File
Colella Year-by-Year
YEAR W L T PCT. SEC NCAA 1993-94 4 5 0 .444 6th 14th 1994-95 5 3 0 .625 3rd 12th 1995-96 5 3 0 .625 3rd 9th 1996-97 5 4 0 .555 3rd 11th 1997-98 4 4 0 .500 5th 19th 1998-99 5 4 0 .555 5th 18th 1999-00 2 4 0 .333 4th 28th TOTAL 30 27 0 .526
