Dan Ross announced his decision Tuesday to retire from his post as the leader of men's swimming and diving, marking the culmination of a distinguished career spanning 42 years.
Ross has become the second-longest serving head coach in the history of Purdue Athletics, having served as the head coach of the Boilermakers since 1985. Ross is a Purdue alumnus who arrived on campus in the fall of 1977 and later served as a four-year assistant coach from 1981 to 1985, according to a Purdue Athletics press release, being associated with Purdue swimming and diving for 46 seasons.
Ross has been awarded three Big Ten Coach of the Year awards, each in a different decade – 1988, 1997 and 2009. Under his guidance, Purdue has scored at the NCAA Championships in 26 consecutive seasons and finished in the top 25 in 14 of the last 17.
Ross has led the Boilermakers to appearances at the Olympic Games, World Championships, Pan American Games, Pan Pacific Games, World University Games, Southeast Asian Games and Maccabi Games. He was also a part of the U.S. coaching staff at the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
In recent years, the men’s program has produced at least one Big Ten champion every year from 2015 to 2021. The Boilermakers won multiple individual Big Ten titles on nine occasions during Ross’ tenure.
In the history of Purdue Athletics, only Larry LeBree’s 40-season run with men’s tennis from 1925 to 1964 ranks as a longer tenure among head coaches.
This season, Ross was ranked as the fifth-longest tenured active swimming and diving head coach working at the NCAA Division I level. Last year, he was honored with the Richard E. Steadman Award from the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America for doing the most to spread happiness in the sport.
Ross intends to coach the Boilermakers at the CSCAA national Invitational Championship and NCAA championships in the coming weeks and will officially retire at the end of June.
