Dave Kienlen, a head site coach of the King Aquatic Club in the Seattle, Washington area, announced his retirement from coaching earlier this week after 44 years of coaching.
Kienlen has a long history in the sport, spanning almost 65 years, and will retire after this summer’s long course season following 9 seasons with KING.
Kienlen’s career began in 1970 as the head coach of the Joliet Swim Club in Illinois. He then moved on to the Willamalene Swim Team and the Sharks Aquatic Club in North Carolina, before finally making the leap to the state of Washington. That began with a turnaround job at the Issaquah Swim Team, and then in 2001 he became the first head coach of the South Sound Titans.
That’s where Kienlen really made his mark. After the 2000 Olympics, and took over coaching the defending Olympic 100 breaststroke champion Megan Quann. Her times stalled out after Sydney, partially due to a change in form, and under Kienlen’s watch she returned to her old technique and she would win 5 more career National Championships. Though she’d never get another individual Olympic gold, she did win the 50 and the 100 at the 2005 World University Games and a medley relay silver in Beijing in 2008.
Among the honors on Kienlen’s resume include being named the Pacific Northwest Swimming Senior Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2003.
Quann/Jendrick swam for Sean Hutchison after 2004, won at world u’s with him, made the Olympic team with him, won a few Nats with him… sounds like this Kienlen guy is getting a lot of credit for work Sean did