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Dave Parrington                  Position: Diving Coach Experience: 22nd Season Alma Mater: Houston 1983

Now entering his 21st year as the men's and women's diving coach at the University of Tennessee, Dave Parrington has achieved unparalleled success coaching on the collegiate, national and international levels.

In 2010, Parrington had two Lady Vols finish in the top 10 at the NCAA Zone and six top-15 finishes at the Southeastern Conference Championships.

In February, Michael Wright won the one-meter springboard national championship at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, with a school-record score.

During the 2009-10 season, Parrington coached his 10th Lady Vol diver to All-America honors, as freshman Gabrielle Trudeau placed 13th on the platform event at the 2009 NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas.

Additionally, fellow freshman Jodie McGroarty reached the podium at the SEC Championships, finishing third on the 3-meter board, and Vols' freshman diver Ryan Helms was named 2009 SEC Freshman Diver of the Year.

Helping that trio not merely compete but contend in its first collegiate season is just another addition to Parrington's impressive résumé.

In 2008, Parrington coached his 28th diver to an SEC Championship, judged the 2008 U.S. Olympic Diving Trials, helped select the 2008 U.S. Olympic Diving Team and, most significantly, saw a scholarship created in his name.

The Dave Parrington Tennessee Diving Scholarship is a $250,000 scholarship endowment created as part of former UT football coach Phillip Fulmer's $1 million donation to The Campaign for Tennessee. The announcement was made during Tennessee's dedication of the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in August 2008. The endowment ensures a scholarship for a UT diver for years to come.

Ten Lady Vol divers have acquired 38 All-America citations during Parrington's tenure at UT. Additionally, four former UT divers have been nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award after being named Tennessee's Woman of the Year. Lizzy Flynt was a finalist for the award, while Lauren McCalley won the honor in 1995.

During the 2007-08 season, Lauren LeRoy wrapped up a stellar career by becoming Parrington's 28th pupil to claim an SEC title, doing so on the 3-meter board. LeRoy also earned her second consecutive All-America award by placing ninth on the one-meter board (301.20) at the NCAA Championships.

LeRoy ended her career with the UT record on the 3-meter board (367.60) and as the No. 2 performer all-time on the 1-meter board (321.30).

During the 2006-07 season, he took LeRoy to her first NCAA Championships and Senior National Meet and guided her to 11 first-place finishes, including a sweep of the one-meter and three-meter events at five different meets. She earned All-America honors on the 3-meter board with a 15th-place performance at the NCAA Championships.

Another recent diver who compiled significant accolades while at UT is McCalley, who earned All-America honors at three NCAA Championships. At the 2004 NCAAs, she picked up two certificates, bringing her career total to five. She grabbed sixth place on the 3-meter board and finished 12th on the 1-meter board. In 2003, the Georgia native placed fifth on the 1-meter at NCAAs while notching sixth on the 3-meter. She was also seventh on the 1-meter and sixth on the 3-meter as a freshman the previous year

McCalley continued to experience success following her career, as she was named not only the NCAA Woman of the Year but also the McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2005. Morever, she served as UT's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president during the 2004-05 school year.

Internationally, Parrington has traveled and served in coaching capacities for many international squads and events. In addition to serving as a judge and a selector for USA Olympic Diving Selection Camp in 2008, Parrington has extensive experience coaching a variety of athletes in international competition as well as serving as the diving coach for his native Zimbabwe at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games.

He was named by USA Diving as one of the selectors for the USA Diving World Cup team which competed with much success in China in July 2006. In 2003, Parrington was a member of the USA Diving World Championship team staff for the FINA World Championships in Barcelona. As the coach of Zimbabwe, Parrington had the opportunity to coach former Vols Evan Stewart at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and Gabi Chereches in 2000 for Romania in their quests for medals. Parrington coached Stewart to first place at the 1994 World Championships and Shannon Roy to a sixth-place finish at the 2001 World Championships, both on the 1-meter event. Stewart and Roy also each won gold at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the 1-meter and 3-meter, respectively. In addition, Parrington led former Tennessee Volunteer Phil Jones to 11th place in the finals on the 3-meter at the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona after helping him capture the NCAA title in the event that same year.

Earlier in the decade, Parrington tutored former Lady Vol Jaime Sanger through an incredible string of performances for the Big Orange. In 2003, he witnessed Sanger earn her third-consecutive SEC crown in the 1-meter, while she placed second in that event at the NCAA Championships.

During her time at Rocky Top, Sanger claimed two SEC Diver of the Year awards, three SEC titles, four All-America certificates, became a member of the U.S. Senior National Team and competed at the 2003 World University Games.

Parrington also guided the career of Lady Vol standout Kathy Pesek. In 1999, he saw Pesek capture her second straight SEC title on the platform and advance to the finals on all three boards at the NCAA Championships to become a 10-time All-American. During her four years at UT, Pesek claimed three SEC titles, one NCAA title, seven U.S. Diving gold medals and one World Championships bronze medal with fellow Lady Vol Tracy Bonner in the three-meter synchro event. The Houston, Texas, native also advanced to the World Diving Cup, the Goodwill Games, the Pan American Games, World University Games and World Championships.

The 1995 season marked a first for Parrington, as divers Bonner and Stewart were crowned NCAA national champions, making Parrington just the fourth diving coach in history to have men's and women's 3-meter NCAA champions in the same season. Bonner also became the first Lady Vol swimmer or diver to claim an NCAA title. On September 22, 2006, she was inducted into the Lady Vol Hall of Fame.

The 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 SEC Men's Diving Coach of the Year and the 1997 and 2003 SEC Women's Diving Coach of the Year, Parrington joined the Lady Vol staff in 1990 from the University of Houston. While with the Cougars, he built a reputation as one of the nation's top diving coaches and earned Southwest Conference Women's Coach of the Year honors in 1990. In seven seasons as a coach at Houston, seven of his divers gained NCAA All-America honors.

Since 1994, UT divers have captured one gold and one bronze medal at the World Championships, six NCAA titles, four U.S. Diving golds, six U.S. Diving synchronized gold medals, four Commonwealth Games medals (two of which were gold) and set two NCAA Championships records. Tennessee divers also have participated in the 2003 World University Games, the 1994, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007 World Championships, the 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2008 World Cups, the 1999 Pan American Games, the 1994 and 1998 Commonwealth Games, the 1998 Goodwill Games and the 1996, 2000 and 2008 Olympics.

An active club coach, Parrington guided the U.S. Junior National Team to a first-place finish at the 1986 Western Hemisphere Championships. In 1990, he served as head coach of the U.S. Junior Olympic team that traveled to Aachen, Germany. In 1997 he was one of three U.S. coaches who traveled to the World Cup in Mexico City, and he served as head coach of the U.S. Team at the FOX Sports Challenge in Brisbane, Australia. In 1999, Parrington served as the coach of the U.S. team at the Swedish Cup and Pan Ams as well as being team leader for the U.S. in the 2002 Canada Cup. He was also on the U.S. coaching staffs for the 2003 FINA/USA Grand Prix and the 2003 World Championships.

The coach of eight junior national champions and 15 U.S. Senior National Team members, Parrington was the winner of the 1988-89 WHOSAM award. The award was presented by legendary double Olympic gold medalist Dr. Sammy Lee and was given to honor his commitment to excellence. Parrington was also the 1997 U.S. Diving Summer National Coaches Award for Excellence recipient. In addition, he has served USA Diving as a member of the U.S. Diving Safety Certification, Judges Certification committees, Olympic International committee, the Committee for Competitive Excellence, a 2008 USA Olympic Diving Team selector, and most recently has been elected a committee member of the prestigious USA Diving Foundation.

Parrington is a native of Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe. He competed on both the national diving and water polo teams, representing Zimbabwe in three-meter and platform diving at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. A 1983 graduate of Houston, he holds a variety of Cougar diving records.

In the summer of 2009, Parrington married Marie Wilson. Wilson, a Knoxville native, has served as the UT swimming and diving massage therapist.