Courtesy: Purdue Athletics
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – As the longtime head coach of Purdue men’s swimming & diving, Dan Ross helps bring a smile to the faces of student-athletes and staff members on a daily basis at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center. But his persona and positive attitude have a coast-to-coast impact on collegiate swimming & diving.
The College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America has selected Ross as its 2022 recipient of the Richard E. Steadman Award, recognizing the dean of Big Ten swim coaches for doing his part to spread happiness across the sport.
Ross was selected by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association’s (CSCAA) Board of Directors and will be recognized at the 61st annual CSCAA College Swimming & Diving Awards on May 2 in Rosemont, Illinois.
Ross’ impact has been felt at the grassroots level of the sport. He has been one of the most active members of the CSCAA Mentoring Program. As Fresno State head coach Jeanne Fleck noted in her nomination, “He helps everyone, including other coaches, and would go out of his way to make you feel welcome and important.”
Michigan State’s Matt Gianiodis agreed, writing that “Dan is the most positive person I have ever met. He cares first and foremost about the sport. He has happiness and pride in his team excelling, but he also feels the same way about rivals. His attitude is infectious and he is the perfect person for this award.”
Ross came to Purdue in 1977 as a walk-on. After graduation, he spent four more years as an assistant before becoming head coach in 1985. Ross has been recognized by his peers as Big Ten Coach of the Year in three different decades and has helped the Boilermakers to top-25 finishes at the NCAA Championships in 13 of the past 16 seasons.
Few coaches have the opportunity to spend their entire career at one school and even fewer have the opportunity to do so at their alma mater. In the words of the CSCAA, “only one member of that select group can claim to be a friend to every member of the coaching community – Dan Ross.”
Cathy Wright-Eger, the head coach of the Purdue women from 1987 to 2008 and later a leadership advisor in the Athletics Department, was also a recipient of the Steadman Award in 2008. The late Morgan J. Burke, Purdue’s Athletics Director from 1992 to 2016, was honored as the CSCAA’s Charles McCaffree Award recipient in 2017, the same year the Boilermakers’ aquatic center was renamed in Burke’s honor. Burke also swam at Purdue and the McCaffree Award recognized his outstanding success outside the pool.
Richard Steadman was a longtime college coach that helped lead student-athletes to gold medals at the NAIA, NCCAA Division II and Division III levels. Along with the CSCAA’s award, the natatorium on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, is named in Steadman’s honor.
Other nominees for the Steadman Award this season included Sean Peters (Wayne State University), Jimmy Tierney (McKendree University), James Halliburton (Saint Louis) and Max Obermiller (Sewanee).
Richard E. Steadman Award Recipients
2020 – Mike Rawleigh, Gettysburg College
2019 – Barbara Jahn, UC-Davis
2018 – Cliff Devries, Rochester Institute of Technology
2017 – Casey Converse, Air Force Academy
2016 – Erin Hurley, Grinnell College
2015 – C. Rob Orr, Princeton University
2014 – Wally Morton, Cleveland State
2013 – Nancy Bigelow, Tufts University
2012 – George Kennedy, Johns Hopkins
2011 – Harvey Humphries, Georgia
2010 – Jean Freeman, Minnesota
2009 – Peter Accardy, Cal State Northridge
2008 – Jim Richardson, Michigan, Cathy Wright-Eger, Purdue
2007 – Jim Ellis, Philadelphia Dept. of Rec
2006 – Bob Pearson, Macalester College
2005 – Anne Goodman James, Arkansas
2004 – Paula Miller, Ithaca College
2003 – Tony Lisa, Rowan University
2002 – Bob Groseth, Northwestern
2001 – John Mattos, Colorado State
2000 – David Hauck, St. Olaf
1999 – Bill Miller, Clarion University
1998 – Don Gambril, Alabama
1997 – Susan Bassett, William Smith
1996 – Bill Campbell, Maryland
1995 – Archie Harris, Illinois State
1994 – Charlie Butt, Bowdoin College
1993 – Tim Welsh, Notre Dame
1992 – Donald R. Megerle, Tufts University
A better person could not be chosen. Congratulations.
Super nice dude. When I was a sophomore in high school, I was really excited about swimming collegiately, and had some VERY high aspirations (like way too high) and emailed him about a tour there. He actually responded, which a lot of coaches didn’t do at the time, and gave me a personal tour of the pool during practice to my dad and I. He was super chill, and that gave me some more motivation to keep at it
Oops, make that SJSU
Dan’s a good dude, but you missed their other award-winner, Sage Hopkins of SHSU
Dan Ross is a class act. Well deserving of the Steadman Award. A great Coach and Person.