Ron OBrien

Ron

O'Brien

Eight-time Olympic coach (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996) Mexico City 1968, coach Munich 1972, coach Montreal 1976, coach Moscow 1980 coach Los Angeles 1984, coach Seoul 1988, coach Barcelona 1992, coach Atlanta 1996, coach

Athlete Bio#

Ron OBrien

Age

87

Hometown

Islamorada, FL

Education

Ohio State University

Quick Facts
  • Six-time letter winner at the Ohio State University, competing in diving and gymnastics
  • U.S. Olympic diving coach (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996), his athletes winning 12 Olympic medals (five golds, three silvers, and four bronzes)
  • Six-time U.S. world championship team coach
  • Seven-time world cup team coach
  • Five-time Pan American team coach
  • Captured 87 national team titles with his U.S. diving club teams
  • United States Olympic Committee Diving Coach of the Year in 1996
  • Inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame
  • Inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame
  • Inducted into The Ohio State University Hall of Fame
  • Mike Peppe Memorial Award winner fifteen times
  • Published video called, “Diving My Way” along with a book called, “Diving for Gold"

Ron O’Brien is a renown diving coach who spent the greater part of his life coaching elite divers. Before coaching, O’Brien was both a competitive diver and gymnast. Attending the Ohio State University, he earned six varsity letters in gymnastics and Diving. While competing in Diving for the Buckeyes, O’Brien won the 1959 NCAA National Championship on the one-meter springboard and 1961 Amateur Athletic Union national championship on the three-meter springboard. After his Diving career, O’Brien served as a coach for the U.S. Olympic Diving team at eight straight Olympic Games, between 1968 and 1996. In his 34 years of coaching, his divers won 196 gold, 113 silver and 106 bronze medals in major Olympic, world, national, NCAA and Big Ten Conference Diving championships. He produced a U.S. national champion and has coached a national champion in 24 consecutive years. Under O’Brien’s coaching, the United States swept all four gold medals at the 1984 world championships, the first time any country has swept a major international world-class event since 1952. In 1986, all 12 U.S. Diving individual national titles were won by O’Brien divers. Two years later at the 1988 Olympic Games, he coached Greg Louganis to his second double gold medal performance in the springboard and platform events, making Greg the only man to accomplish back-to-back gold medals in Olympic Diving history. Inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, O’Brien left an incredible legacy in the sport of Diving.

Explore More Athletes

Herb
Brooks

Chris
Waddell

John
Carlos

Carlo
Fassi

Tommie
Smith