Deryk Snelling
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 22, 1933 Darwen, Lancashire, England |
| Died | September 4, 2021 (aged 88) Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada |
| Playing career | |
| Positions | 1951 British National Title 100-yard Breaststroke Butterfly National Title |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1961-1967 | Southampton Swim Club Southampton, England |
| 1967-1975 | Canadian Dolphin Swim Club Vancouver, B.C. |
| 1976-1980 | Etobicoke Swim Club Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario |
| 1980-1996 | University of Calgary |
| 1984-1988 | University of Calgary Swim Club |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 9 National Titles 11 Canada West Championships (University of Calgary) | |
| Awards | |
| 1993 International Swimming Hall of Fame 4 x Canadian Swim Coach of the Year 6 x C.I.A.U. Coach of the Year Order of Canada Award | |
Deryk Sydney Snelling (22 July 1933 – 4 September 2021) was a British-born swimming coach for both Britain and Canada best known for leading the University of Calgary swimming team to nine national and 11 Canadian West Conference Championships from 1980 to 1996. He served as a Coach to the Canadian Olympic team in seven Olympics from 1972 to 1996, and has been recognized as one of the most honored swim coaches in recent history by the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, BC Sports Hall of Fame, and both the Canadian and International Swimming Halls of Fame. Snelling mentored fifty-seven of his swimmers to berths on Olympic teams, with Olympic medals earned by twenty-one. In non-Olympic international competition, swimmers coached by Snelling amassed ten World Championship medals, thirty-eight medals in the Pan American games, twenty-seven medals in the Pan Pacific Games, and sixty-five medals in the British Commonwealth Games. For his contributions to Canadian swimming on both the club, university, and Olympic level, many sports historians consider him Canada's greatest contemporary swim coach.