Dave Parrington is retiring as the most decorated diving coach in SEC history after 35 years at Tennessee.
Parrington was the longest-tenured coach at Tennessee. He led Tennessee to a combined nine NCAA titles, three CSCAA Diver of the Year awards, 47 SEC titles and 19 SEC Diver of the Year honors, which is the most in SEC history.
He was named SEC Coach of the Year a combined 16 times, which is a conference record. Parrington was named SEC Coach of the Year 12 times for men’s diving and four times for women’s diving.
“To all the divers over the years, dating back to our first squad who set the tone for what was to come, through all the ups – of which there were many – and downs over the years, I express a monstrous token of gratitude,” Parrington said in a school release. “On to this final group who, despite some challenges this past season, are awesome and so very much appreciated. I’ll miss being on deck with you, but will always cherish the friendships and look forward to watching you flourish with the groundwork we worked so hard day in and day out. Just remember to ‘Let it Fly!’ … for one last time, I’d love to say, ‘Winning is living.’ “
Parrington won CSCAA National Women’s Diving Coach of the Year in 2013 after he led the Lady Vols to a third place finish at the NCAA championships, their highest team finish in program history.
The nine NCAA titles Parrington guided Tennessee divers to are the most by an SEC school since 1991. Tennessee divers recorded 30 top-three finishes under Parrington at NCAA championships. He coached 34 divers to All-America status.
Director of swimming and diving Matt Kredich said in a school release that Parrington shaped the diving program into “a world leader in the diving community.”
“He has also challenged, nurtured and mentored hundreds of individual student-athletes to achieve great success on the boards, in the classroom and in their communities,” Kredich said. “Dave’s passion and expertise have been an inspiration to many, and his impact on the lives of the athletes he’s coached is immeasurable. The Tennessee Swimming and Diving community thanks him for his unwavering commitment, and we celebrate a truly exceptional career.
“We will miss his presence on deck, but his legacy of a positive and caring brand of competitiveness is now deeply ingrained in the DNA of our program.”
UT divers dominated the conference during Parrington’s tenure. They won 104 medals at the SEC championships and won a combined won 47 SEC titles, which is 10 more than the next closest school. The Vols have had 31 conference champions, the most by any SEC school since 1991. The Lady Vols had 16 SEC champions, which is the third-highest of SEC schools.
Parrington was born in Britain and raised on the South African terrain of what was then Rhodesia but is now Zimbabwe.
He was a college diver at Houston and represented Zimbabwe in the 3-meter and platform at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Before arriving at Tennessee, he spent seven years as Houston’s diving coach.
Parrington also coached Zimbabwe’s Olympic team at two Olympics (1996, 2000), and he served as a coach for the U.S. in the 1997 World Diving Cup.
Parrington was inducted into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
In 2011, Parrington became a U.S. citizen.
“I never officially had a country,” Parrington told Knox News in 2012. “Now, all the sudden, I’m an American and it’s great. It’s a pretty special thing and I couldn’t be more proud.”
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on X @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
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