University of Minnesota Athletics
Tramel Named Assistant Men's Swimming Coach
6/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Prior to his hiring at Minnesota, Tramel spent the past nine years at North Carolina as the head assistant coach for the Tar Heel men's and women's swimming teams. At UNC, Tramel coached over 40 All-America honorees and over 35 NCAA individual qualifiers. Since his arrival in 1995, Tramel directly coached 15 Atlantic Coast Conference individual champions, four ACC Championship meet record holders and 12 athletes to UNC school record performances. Tramel assisted in the coaching of Jessica Perruquet, who won the 200-yard freestyle at the 2003 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. He also coached Sean Quinn, who placed fifth in the 200 breaststroke at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials.
While at UNC, the Tar Heels had nine top-20 finishes at the NCAA Championships and five top-15 team finishes. In 2001, the UNC women's team finished ninth overall for the first time since 1987. Since Tramel's arrival, the Tar Heels have won seven ACC Championships.
Before his stint at UNC, Tramel spent a year as an assistant coach at the University of Georgia. While an assistant at Georgia, the St. Louis, Mo., native helped lead the Bulldogs' women's team to a nine-spot improvement at the NCAA level. He also served for two years as the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the University of South Carolina's men's swimming program from 1992-94. During Tramel's stay, the Gamecocks moved from a 37th-place finish at the NCAA meet to 19th place.
"We are really excited and fortunate to be able to hire someone with Bill's experience," Dale said. "With Bill's nine years as a head assistant coach at UNC, we are very happy to have him as a part of our staff. Bill brings a great deal of knowledge working with middle distance, distance and individual medley swimmers, and I think he will be an excellent addition."
"I am very excited to have such a great opportunity," Tramel said. "I have enjoyed my time in Chapel Hill and I will miss UNC, my friends, athletes and co-workers, however, I am looking forward to coaching at Minnesota. I know a number of people at Minnesota and it will be an easy transition for me. Dennis and I have known each other for many years and Minnesota has been a perennial top-10 team. I look forward to joining the staff and this program."
