Coaches and Staff

The list of accomplishments is lengthy. Four Big Ten titles in the last six years and six in the last 11. Fifteen straight top 16 finishes at the NCAA Championships. Sixteen consecutive top-two finishes at the Big Ten Championships. Over one hundred different All-Americans. As Dennis Dale enters his 22nd year as the head coach at the University of Minnesota, his leadership has taken Minnesota from a bottom level Big Ten program to one of the nation’s elite and most respected.

Perhaps the most impressive mark of Dale’s tenure has been its consistency. Minnesota has finished as either the champion or runner-up in the Big Ten each of the last 16 years. Dale has coached at least nine All-Americans for 12 straight seasons dating to 1993-94. Consistency at the NCAA Championships has been a staple, including five straight top 10 NCAA finishes from 2000-04. In addition, his squads have finished in the top 15 for the last 15 seasons. Dale’s teams have been a force during the regular season as well. He owns a 157-27 overall dual meet record in his tenure including a 70-5 mark over the last 10 years. He hasn’t lost more than one dual since the 1990-91 season when the Gophers were 11-2.

Making Dale’s progression to a national power even more impressive is the state of the program that he inherited in 1985-86. The program which has over 100 different All-Americans in the last 20 years, hadn’t made a top-five Big Ten finish since 1967 and hadn’t posted a top-15 NCAA finish since 1972. When he guided Minnesota to the Big Ten crown in 1996, it broke a 70-year conference title drought.

Dale is the dean of Big Ten coaches in his 22nd season. He is the only active coach with more than one conference title under his belt and has entered elite waters for his tenure. With six career titles, he ranks fifth all-time in Big Ten history behind only James ‘Doc’ Counsilman of Indiana (23), Michigan’s Matt Mann (16) and Jon Urbanchek (13) and Ohio State’s Mike Peppe (12).

Prior to becoming the women’s swimming and diving co-head coach in the spring of 2004, Kremer was a member of the Minnesota men's swimming staff with head coach Dennis Dale. Kremer was an assistant coach for the Golden Gophers for four years before being promoted to the associate head coach position in 2002. Since Kremer's arrival in 1998, the Golden Gopher men’s team won three Big Ten Championships, including back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002 and again in 2004. The other three years the Maroon and Gold finished second at the league championships. The Gophers have also placed in the Top 10 at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships the past five years.

Primarily responsible for middle distance and distance swimmers at Minnesota, Kremer was the personal coach for more then 30 NCAA All-America performances. Kremer coached some of the best men's swimmers in the country. Under his tutelage, Jeff Hackler was a 15-time All-American, a school record holder and a multiple Big Ten Champion in the breaststroke events. Kremer also coached All-American and Canadian Olympian Mike Brown and All-Americans Travis Beckerle, Ryan Plummer and Matt Taylor.

Kremer has placed three of his athletes on teams that represented the United States in International competition. Justin Mortimer competed at the 2003 World University Games after winning the Big Ten Championship in the 1650 free. Mortimer went on to compete at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials, placing third in the 1500-meter freestyle. Hackler competed in the 2002 World University Games, while former women's swimmer Keri Hehn swam in the 2003 World University Games. Kremer also coached Keam Ang, who competed for Malaysia, and Yoav Meiri, who competed for Israel in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. In addition, Kremer had the honor of being Team Mexico’s coach at the 2002 Short Course World Championships in Moscow, Russia.

A native of Mandan, N.D., Kremer began his coaching career in 1988 with the Springfield Aquatics Swim Team in Springfield, Mo. From 1992-1994 Kremer was the Graduate Assistant Coach for Drury University, also in Springfield. He served as Head Coach for John Brown University for one year before moving to Mission Viejo, California in 1995 to serve as Assistant National Team Coach to Bill Rose and the Mission Viejo Nadadores from 1995-1998.

As an athlete, Kelly finished fifth in the 100 backstroke at the 1991 US Open and participated in the 1992 Olympic Trials in the same event. During his collegiate career, he was a 24-time NAIA National Champion and 29-time NAIA All American for Drury University, and was elected to the school’s Sports Hall of Fame in the summer of 1997. Coach Kremer owns both a B.A. and M.Ed. in education, both from Drury.

He resides in Apple Valley, Minn. with his wife, Eva-Marie.

Minnesota is fortunate to have not just one, but two highly experienced coaches at the reign of the Golden Gopher women's swimming and diving program. In just three years, head co-head coaches Terry Nieszner and Kelly Kremer has lifted the Gophers to the top echelon in the nation and the Big Ten Conference. Minnesota became one of the top -15 teams in the nation this season when the Gophers improved eight spots after a 21st finish from the previous year. Under Nieszner and Kremer's tutelage, the Gophers earned All-America honors in the 200, 400 and 800 free relays as well as coaching Jenny Shaughnessy and Yuen Kobayashi to individual All-America honors. Along with their accomplishments on the national scene, the team finished fourth at the Big Ten Championships and led the Gophers to three Big Ten champions in Kobayashi (1,650 free), Christine Jennings (500 free) and the 800 free relay.

After finishing sixth in the league championships in 2005, the Gophers skyrocketed to a second-place finish at the 2006 Big Ten Conference Championships. Not only did the Gophers earn over 530 points at the conference championship, Nieszner and Kremer were named Co-Big Ten Coaches of the Year. The Gophers had four named to the first-team All-Big Ten Team and Yuen Kobayashi was named Freshman of the Year. Along with an outstanding conference performance, Nieszner and Kremer's squad had 10 swimmers qualify for the 2006 NCAA Championships, the most for the program since 1997-98. Along with 10 competing at the national championships, nine earned All-America honorable mention status, with the team placing 21st overall.

In their first year at the helm Minnesota swimming, Nieszner and Kremer's team ranked in the top 25 of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. After an impressive performance at the Georgia Invite, the Gophers entered the poll at No. 24. Minnesota was ranked as high as No. 23 following the Quad Duals against Big Ten opponents Wisconsin, Illinois and Purdue. The Gophers finished sixth at the Big Ten Championships, a higher finish then predicted. Minnesota finished the season with a 7-1 dual meet record and a 5-1 mark in Big Ten action. Not only did the Gophers improve in the pool, but also landed one of the best recruiting classes in the nation. Nieszner and Kremer recruited four summer national qualifiers.

After serving as the women's swimming assistant coach for 27 years, Nieszner was named the interim head coach immediately following former head coach Jean Freeman's retirement. Nieszner worked closely with Freeman for nearly three decades, and their coaching philosophies, styles and skills complemented one another very well. Nieszner is a well-known and highly respected member of the swimming community.

During Nieszner's tenure as an assistant, Minnesota won back-to-back Big Ten Championships in 1999 and 2000, and she coached 48 student-athletes to Big Ten titles in 53 individual events and 23 relay events. Since the start of Nieszner's coaching career, the Minnesota women's swimming and diving program has had 58 swimmers earn over 200 All-America certificates and have placed in the NCAA Championships 17 of the last 18 years.

Nieszner guided some of the greatest swimmers, not only in the Big Ten, but also in the nation. In her 27 years, Nieszner coached six-time All-American Diane Wallner, 12-time All-American and American record holder Gretchen Hegener and 10-time All-American Terri Jashinsky. Since the start of Nieszner's career, five student-athletes have earned the Big Ten Medal of Honor award, while seven were named the Women's Athletics Senior Athlete of the Year.

Minnesota also excelled in the classroom, earning two GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in Uta Herrmann and Dana Baum. The Gophers have had over 100 Academic All-Big Ten honorees, since the award was initiated in 1990.

A former Gopher swimmer, Nieszner was the first woman to earn All-America honors at the University of Minnesota. As a student-athlete, Nieszner was a four-time All-American (1974, twice in 1975, 1976) and a two-time Big Ten champion (1974, 1977). She was inducted into the Minnesota Aquatics Hall of Fame in 1984, the M Club Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Minnesota Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1994. She graduated in 1977 with a degree in physical education.

Nieszner, her husband, Tom, and sons Joe and Pat, reside in St. Paul, Minn.

Bill Tramel is in his third year as assistant coach at the University of Minnesota. Prior to his hiring at Minnesota, the 15-year collegiate coaching veteran spent nine years at North Carolina as the head assistant coach for the Tar Heel men's and women's swimming teams.

In just two seasons, Tramel has made his mark in Minneapolis. In 2004-05, Tramel helped the Gophers to a second consecutive Big Ten title. The primary coach of the distance and middle distance swimmers, he coached six All-Americans and four school record performances. He guided the outstanding season by Justin Mortimer, who finaled three times at NCAAs and finished third in the 500 freestyle. Under Tramel's tutelage, David Plummer made a statement as as freshman, finishing second in the 100 backstroke at the Big Ten Championships and earning All-America laurels in both back events at the NCAA Championships. Plummer went on to finish third in the 100-meter back and fourth in the 200 at the 2005 USA Summer Nationals in Irvine, Calif.

In 2005-06, Tramel coached several swimmers to lifetime-best accomplishments. Plummer finaled twice at the NCAA Championships including a fifth-place finish in the 200 backstroke. Plummer shattered the school record in the event and posted the top individual finish by a Gopher in the event since 2000. Plummer also went on to finish fifth in the 100-meter back at the 2006 USA Summer Nationals and fifth in the 100, enough to earn a spot on Team USA's roster for the Pan Pacific Championships. Tramel also worked extensively with Zach Wood, who built on three appearances in the finals at the 2006 Big Ten Championships by finaling in the 200-meter butterfly at U.S. Summer Nationals. Tramel coached Travis Beckerle to an outstanding finish to his career as a Golden Gopher in 2006. Beckerle recorded a lifetime-best time in the 1650 free to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Following the season, the Academic All-American was awarded the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. During the spring, Tramel also coached Team Berve at the USA Spring Nationals.

At UNC, Tramel coached over 40 All-America honorees and over 35 NCAA individual qualifiers. He directly coached 15 Atlantic Coast Conference individual champions, four ACC Championship meet record holders and 12 athletes to UNC school record performances. Tramel assisted in the coaching of Jessica Perruquet, who won the 200-yard freestyle at the 2003 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. He also coached Sean Quinn, who placed fifth in the 200 breaststroke at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials.

While at UNC, the Tar Heels had nine top-20 finishes at the NCAA Championships and five top-15 team finishes. In 2001, the UNC women's team finished ninth overall for the first time since 1987. Since Tramel's arrival, the Tar Heels have won seven ACC Championships.

Before his stint at UNC, Tramel spent a year as an assistant coach at the University of Georgia. While an assistant at Georgia, the St. Louis, Mo., native worked alongside 2000 U.S. Olympic coach Jack Bauerle. He helped lead the Bulldogs' women's team to a nine-spot improvement at the NCAA level -- from 15th place in 1994 to sixth place in 1995 as well as to the NCAA women's championship in the 200-yard freestyle relay that year. Tramel also acted as recruiting coordinator and helped lay the foundation of three straight national champion Bulldog teams. Tramel's recruiting class won Georgia's first national title when they were seniors.

He also served for two years as the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the University of South Carolina's men's swimming program from 1992-94. During Tramel's stay, the Gamecocks moved from a 37th-place finish at the NCAA meet to 19th place.

Prior to his work at South Carolina, Tramel spent two years as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's swimming programs at the University of Missouri, his alma mater. He had been a member of the Tiger swimming team and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance in 1992.

His early coaching duties were also as an assistant age group coach at the Sugar Creek Swim Club in St. Louis, Mo, in 1988. A year later, he was the assistant age group coach for the St. Louis Aquajets.

Eva has been the Head Age Group Coach with Blackline Aquatics (Dolphin site) since the fall of 1998. She has developed numerous State Championship qualifiers, State Champions and Zone qualifiers. Eva believe in a solid IM/distance based training program. She enjoys coaching 12-Under swimmers and teaching them work ethic and commitment. One of her goals is to develop well-rounded swimmers for a long-term career in swimming.

Eva has been one of the directors of Minnesota Swim Camps since the summer of 1999. Before moving to Minnesota, she was an Age Group coach with Mission Viejo Nadadores, CA, one of the most successful teams in the country. Her coaching philosophy and ideas were developed as a part of the Nadadores' staff. Eva has been coaching since 1991 and she is an ASCA (American Swimming Coaches Association) Level 3.

In her swimming career, Eva was a Swedish Junior National Champion and a member of the Swedish Junior National Team. In college, she was a 13 time NAIA National Champion and a 32 time All-American. She was also an Academic All-American, a Team Captain and a Outstanding Senior Finalist at Drury University. Eva was inducted into Drury University's Hall of Fame in 2004.

Eva has been married to Kelly since 1994. Kelly is the Co-Head Coach of University of Minnesota Women's Swimming and Diving.