Mike Peppe

Mike Peppe (March 10, 1898 – September 2, 1979) was a Hall of Fame swim coach for Ohio State University from 1931 to 1962, where he led the team to 11 NCAA, 12 Big Ten, and 10 AAU Championships. With an exceptional winning percentage at Ohio State in dual meets of 82 %, and an unmatched record of 11 NCAA national swimming and diving championships, the American Swimming Coaches Association named Peppe to its list of the 100 greatest coaches of the past century.

Early life and education Peppe was born in New York City in March 1898, and at the age of 10 moved to Columbus, where he attended and graduated Columbus's North High School. In his earliest years as coach, Peppe's teams were only runners-up on the national level in 1937, 1938, and 1939. But, after winning their first national championship in 1943, Ohio State had unheralded success. In the twenty years from 1943 to 1963, there were only six years when Peppe's Ohio State teams failed to finish first or second in the national swimming and diving competition. Under Peppe, Ohio State had NCAA or national Championships in 1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, and 1962. His teams were undefeated in dual meets during 12 seasons.

Peppe is considered to have laid the foundation for the legacy of excellence associated with Ohio State's swimming and diving teams. His swimmers and divers dominated the sport in a way few teams have ever matched. Under his studied management, Ohio State Swimmers won 312 individual championships, which included 94 NCAA, 100 AAU and 94 Big Ten titles.

During his tenure at Ohio State, his swimmers won 5 Olympic gold medals and 19 of his athletes qualified for the U.S. Olympic team. In both 1947 and 1956, excelling even more as a diving coach, Peppe's divers took 1st through 4th place, dominating the competition in the NCAA diving finals. By 1953, his teams had won six indoor and four outdoor American Athletic Union national titles, before college teams were excluded from the competition. Bob Bartels, both Peppe's Assistant Coach and 1951-53 Ohio State swimmer under Peppe, replaced him as Head Coach in 1963. At the 1952 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, Ohio State swimmers Bob Clotworthy won the springboard diving championship, Donald Harper finished second, and Glen Whitten finished fourth.

Honors Peppe was inducted into both the American Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame in 2002 and in a more exclusive honor, was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1966. In a lasting tribute to his achievements, the old competition pool at Ohio State, originally opened in the 1931–32 season, was named the Mike Peppe Aquatic Center. Peppe and Coach L. W. St. John planned the three-pool natatorium, and dedicated it on February 26, 1931, the year Peppe began as Coach. It was the first pool in America with a seven-foot shallow end, and a twelve-foot diving end. In January 1977, Ohio State swimmers relocated into the new $4 million Mike Peppe Aquatic Center, both an addition and renovation to the existing building at the university's Larkins Hall. The new structure contains an eight-lane, 50-meter pool, with two smaller 25-yard pools of five and six lanes each, and a large modern diving well with four spring boards and one diving platform. The new diving area, is considered one of the most modern and well-equipped in electronic scoring features in the nation.

The College Swimming & Diving Coaches of Association of America (CSAA) included Peppe in its one list of the "100 Greatest Collegiate Swimming & Diving Coaches of the century".