Legendary University of Miami Diving Coach Randy Ableman Announces Retirement After 35 Years

Randy Ableman, the longtime Head Diving Coach at the University of Miami, has announced his retirement after 35 years.

Ableman was a staple on the pool deck in Miami, crafting his Hurricane program into a diving powerhouse. Under his guidance, the Hurricanes saw great success on the national level, with Ableman coaching his divers to 160 All-American performances during his tenure, with 14 of his divers combining for 26 individual NCAA Championships. Most recently, Ableman coached Mia Vallee to an NCAA title on the women’s 1-meter springboard in 2022. Over the past decade, a majority of Miami’s points at the NCAA Championships have come from the diving program.

For his efforts, Ableman was named the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America Coach of the Year a total of 9 times, earning the recognition six consecutive years from 1995-2000. He has also been named the ACC Men’s Diving Coach of the Year on six different occasions and the ACC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year four times. Prior to Miami joining the ACC, Ableman also won Big East Men’s Coach of the Year awards in 2000, 2002 and 2003, while winning the women’s award every year from 2000-2003.

In 2002, Ableman was named the recepient of the Phil Boggs Memorial Award. According to USA Diving, “The Phil Boggs Award perpetuates the memory and philosophy of Olympic gold medalist Phil Boggs. It honors those who have achieved individual excellence in diving and have given back a part of themselves to assure the sport’s continuation and success.” He also won USA Diving’s Mike Peppe Award in 1994, which is “presented annually to the outstanding Senior Diving Coach in the United States”

Ableman’s impact on the Miami program was so significant that the school opted not to cut the men’s diving team, despite cutting men’s swimming program after the 2000-2001 season. The decision paid off for the University’s Athletic Department, with Ableman producing several NCAA Champions on the men’s side, including four-time NCAA Champions Dean Panaro, Rio Ramirez, and Tyce Routson.

On the international stage, Ableman produced significant success as well, coaching 17 Olympic divers throughout his career. He served on multiple Olympic coaching staffs, coaching for the South African diving team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and serving on the U.S. coaching staff for the 1996 (Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney), 2004 (Athens), 2012 (London) and 2016 (Rio de Janeiro) Olympic Games. At the Rio Olympic Games, his diver David Dinsmore took home a silver medal in the men’s 3-meter synchro event. Two of Ableman’s Miami divers competed at the 2024 Olympic Games,with Mohamed Farouk representing Rgypt and Chiara Pellacani representing Italy.

Prior to coaching, Ableman was a diver at Iowa, where he was a four-time All-American and was the 1981 NCAA Champion in the 1-meter springboard event.

Ableman recently spoke about his legendary career, saying that he never intended for his career to extend as long as it has. “When I was a diver, and there’d be coaches that were in their sixties, I’d look around and say there was absolutely no way that would ever be me on that pool deck,” Ableman said. “And it’s so funny that that became who I am. That’s what gives me a little bit more comfort in the fact that it’s okay to move ahead and move on. It’s not something anyone should do forever and ever and while I was very good at what I did, it’s time to be great at other things and put my passion into some other thing.”

He also addressed his team’s successes, “it wasn’t an intentional thing or an artificial thing. It’s just what happens when people are passionate about what they’re doing. … And as an old man, that means everything. I don’t count how many victories or national championships there are, because every kid was great. It’s more about the process and the mutual respect and working together and achieving things together. It’s not just counting how many rings you have on your nightstand.”

Despite leaving his career at Miami behind, Ableman still intends on remaining an active supporter of the program, cementing his legacy within the university’s history. “I’ll always be following the program and be a huge supporter of these kids. I look forward to watching them from the stands and the t.v. and to see where the next coach takes this program because it is absolutely set up for success.”