Bill Dorenkott is in his first season as head coach of the Ohio State University women's swimming team. He was named head coach in April after having served as head coach of the Penn State women’s swimming team for the past 10 years and its men’s team for seven years.
“We were looking for a coach who would help us compete at the national level,” T.J. Shelton, assistant athletics director for sports administration and search committee chair, said. “We feel we have that person in Bill Dorenkott and we look forward to him taking our program forward.”
A 1991 Cleveland State University graduate who started his collegiate coaching career at Ashland University in 1993, Dorenkott has had remarkable success the past 13 years at Penn State (total includes three years as an assistant coach at PSU). Among his many coaching highlights and accomplishments:
- He has coached the Penn State women to Big Ten Conference championships in 2002, 2005 and 2006.
- Penn State has never finished lower than fourth at the women’s Big Ten championships in 10 years under Dorenkott when, prior to his arrival, it had never finished higher than fourth.
- His women’s teams have finished in the Top 20 at the NCAA championships in three of the past five years.
- He has coached 27 different student-athletes to 32 Big Ten individual championships, including 18 women to 29 Big Ten titles.
- He coached Pat Schirk to a national championship in the men’s 200 backstroke at the 2008 NCAA championships and to All-America honors in the 100 backstroke.
- A total of 57 of his swimmers have qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials over the years.
- His student-athletes have set 10 Big Ten records and four Big Ten championship records.
- Two of his swimmers have earned the prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarship.
- He has had a total of 164 Academic All-Big Ten honorees and 32 College Swimming Coaches Association Academic (CSCAA) All-Americans.
- His teams have been honored with a CSCAA Team Academic All-America award 11 times.
This past season Dorenkott guided his Penn State women’s team to a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten championships and to a 29th-place finish at the NCAA championships. For the fifth consecutive year, and the seventh time in the last eight years, Dorenkott had at least 10 swimmers qualify for the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. Eight of those student-athletes attained All-American status, with Kelly Nelson placing sixth in the 200 butterfly to earn first-team All-America honors.
Dorenkott, who has had the unique opportunity to see Ohio State in action numerous times over the past 13 years, has been a fan of the Ohio State athletics program and its tradition.
“I noticed the pride in the program,” Dorenkott said regarding what he saw in Ohio State from afar. “And I saw the pride within the state in the program. I also liked the way that [men’s swimming coach] Bill Wadley and [diving coach] Vince Panzano conduct themselves personally and professionally.
“I view this as a terrific opportunity for both me and my family. We are looking forward to diving into The Ohio State University, the athletics department and the Columbus community.”
Shelton conducted a national search for the position and Dorenkott emerged as the choice of the committee to replace nine-year coach Jeanne Fleck, who is now the head women’s coach at Fresno State University.
“We were excited about the overall quality of the pool of candidates,” Shelton said, “and we felt that Bill Dorenkott was the person we needed to be the next leader of our women’s swimming program.
“He has strong Ohio ties. He knows the Big Ten. He is a championship coach with strong recruiting abilities. He is an individual with great character. His commitment to the student-athlete coupled with his success on the pool deck is unmatched.”
Dorenkott and his wife, Adrianne, have four children – Jack, Matt, Ann and Will – with Jack, 10, the oldest.
