Dan Laak is the head dive coach of the University of Georgia (UGA) men's and women's diving teams. He has also coached internationally as part of the U.S. Olympic dive team coaching staff. [1]
Laak dove collegiately at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse under head diving coach, Barry Schockmel, and graduated in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in recreation administration. He earned five All-America and Honorable Mention honors. In October 2003 Laak was inducted into the Wisconsin-LaCrosse Athletic Wall of Fame. [1] [2] [3]
The 2013-2014 season marks Laak's 27th year as a coach for UGA. During his coaching tenure at UGA, he has been named National Coach of the Year twice (2006, 2008) and SEC Dive Coach of the Year three times (2001, 2005, 2006). [4] [5] He has also served twice as a coach for the United States Olympic dive team (2008, 2012). [1] [6] [7] [8]
In 2008 Laak served as a United States dive team coach during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China and National Team Coach at the USA Grand Prix. [1] [9] That same year Laak was named the NCAA diving national coach of the year after coaching UGA men's diver Chris Colwill to a first-place finish on the 1-meter springboard and two second-place finishes on the 3-meter and platform events and UGA women's diver Hannah Moore to a fourth-place finish on 3-meter spring-board. [3] For the 2009 FINA Diving World Series, Laak served as a National Team Coach/Team Leader. [10]
Laak judged the World University Games in Yugoslavia in 1987 and Spain in 1999. He served as a diving coach at the 1990 U.S. Olympic Festival and as a judge at the 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival. From 1997 to 2000, Laak was the Chairman of the NCAA Diving Rules Committee. [1]
The University of Georgia is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia. Chartered in 1785, it is one of the oldest public universities in the United States. It is the flagship school of the University System of Georgia.
Lawrence Harry Munson was an American sports announcer and talk-show host based out of the U.S. city of Athens, Georgia. He was best known for handling radio play-by-play of University of Georgia Bulldogs football games from 1966 to 2008. He also handled the play-by-play for UGA basketball and Atlanta Falcons radio broadcasts and hosted sports-related talk shows.
Kara Lynn Joyce, is an American former competition swimmer and four-time Olympic silver medalist. She competed as a member of the United States Olympic Team at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
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The Athens Banner-Herald is a daily newspaper in Athens, Georgia, USA, and owned by Gannett. The paper has a Sunday special and publishes online under the name Online Athens. It has been through a series of restructurings and mergers since 2000, culminating in its sale, along with several other papers, by Morris Communications to Gatehouse Media in August 2017. Since the merger of GateHouse Media and Gannett in November 2019, The Athens Banner-Herald is now owned by Gannett.
The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The official mascot is an English Bulldog named Uga,, while the costumed character version of Uga is Hairy Dawg. Most of the school's athletic teams are known as the Bulldogs, with the exception of the women's basketball team, known as the "Lady Bulldogs", and the women's gymnastics team, known as the "GymDogs".
Daniel Hamilton Magill Jr. was an American Sports Information Director, Head Tennis Coach, and Georgia Bulldog Club secretary for the University of Georgia, known throughout the state of Georgia and the South for his unparalleled contributions to the Georgia Bulldog athletic program. Magill was also an accomplished tennis player.
Jack Bauerle is the former head coach of the University of Georgia (UGA) men's and women's swimming teams. He served as coach for the 2020 US Olympic Swim Team at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
The College of Public Health (CPH) is a college within the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, United States.
Gabrielsen Natatorium is a swimming and diving facility at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, U.S.A. The natatorium is home to the university's varsity swimming and diving programs and seats almost 2,000 spectators.
Christopher Colwill is an American international diver from Tampa, Florida. Colwill graduated from Tampa Preparatory School in 2003 and dove for the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia under dive coach Dan Laak.
Lauren Anne English is an American swimmer who represented the United States at the Pan Pacific Championships (2006), the World University Games (2007) and the Junior Pan Pacific Games (2005). English was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey and resides in Lincoln Park, New Jersey. She set the United States Open Record in the 50 Meter Backstroke. She swam collegiately for the University of Georgia. Upon her retirement from higher level swimming she enrolled at New York University in nursing and later received a master's degree as an advanced practice nurse from Seton Hall University. She is now a Director of Patient Care at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
The Georgia Bulldogs swimming and diving team represents the University of Georgia (UGA) in NCAA men's and women's swimming and diving. Also known as the "Swim Dawgs," the teams compete at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Georgia, USA. The women have won seven NCAA national championships. Jack Bauerle is the head coach over both the men's and women's swimming teams. Dan Laak is the head diving coach.
The Georgia GymDogs is the women's gymnastics team of the University of Georgia. The team is part of NCAA Division I and competes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The GymDogs compete in Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia.
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Meghan Boenig is the head coach of the women's equestrian varsity program at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, USA. In Boenig's first varsity season (2002–2003) at UGA, the team won the national championship in the Varsity Equestrian National Championships (VENC). She has coached the team to six additional national championships and several runner-up finishes.
Li Hongping is a Chinese-American former diver who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics. Hongping Li, an NCAA champion and two-time Olympian who has been one of the most successful NCAA coaches for more than a decade, is in his 14th year as USC's head diving coach. He was named to the position on July 1, 1999.
Amanda Jo Adkins, later known by her married name Amanda Schneider, is an American former competition swimmer, an Ohio State Champion in the 100-meter backstroke, and a 2000 Atlanta Olympic competitor in the 200-meter backstroke. She swam for the SEC Championship University of Georgia swim team from 1995-1999.
Laura Ryan is an American international diver from Elk River, Minnesota. She competes in one and three meter individual springboard diving and 10 meter platform diving as well as three meter synchronized springboard. She dove collegiately at Indiana University (IU) and the University of Georgia (UGA). At UGA she was a two-time NCAA champion.
Melanie Margalis is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in the freestyle, breaststroke and individual medley events. She currently represents the Cali Condors which is part of the International Swimming League.
