BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Dan Ditmer, a former water polo coach who began his career back in the 1960’s, has passed away in Orlando, FL. Many of his former water polo players went on to play in college at schools including Fordham University, Harvard University, Slippery Rock University, Loyola Marymount University and the University of Notre Dame.
His own teams also achieved success. His 1970 Sheridan Swim Club girls water polo team (Quincey, Ill.) won the AAU National Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He built built the 50-meter pool and coached at the Longwood Aquatic Club in Longwood, Fla., starting in 1976, coached the Bishop Moore High School men and women’s water polo teams up until 2001, and served as an assistant water polo coach at Northwestern University.
He was a strong believer that water polo players and swimmers could co-exist and many of his championship swimmers were also outstanding water polo players.
Many of his swimmers became state and national champions, but he was always proudest of the exceptional adults his athletes grew into as they made their journey from childhood to adulthood. It was not unusual for his former club and high school swimmers to drop by and visit him at the Longwood Aquatic Club.
Ditmer’s Rite of Christian Burial will be on Thursday, May 9 at 10:00 a.m. at Annunciation Catholic Church in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
