In only his second year as a US Paralympics resident swimming coach at the US Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs, Denniston (pictured above) led the successful Team USA at the Pan-Pacific Para-Swimming Championships.

It marked a hugely successful 2011 for Denniston where 14 of his 16 athletes were selected to major international teams and consistently excelled on the world stage.

Among his athletes, Jessica Long collected nine gold medals in nine events, while shattering four world records.

Long (pictured below), the 20-year-old Russian-born swimmer who had both her lower legs amputated when she was 18 months old due to a defect at birth, has now be named for London 2012 where, under the tutelage of Denniston, she will be looking to add to her haul of seven Paralympic gold medals.


A former Paralympic swimmer himself from Beijing 2008, Denniston also conducts speaking engagements to share his journey from an able-bodied Olympic hopeful to a Paralympic athlete turned mentor after he was paralysed in a sledding accident in 2005.

His experience has allowed him to integrate his Paralympic team practices with elite able-bodied team practices to help assist athletes on both teams to reach higher goals.

"I'm thrilled to work with some of best athletes in swimming," Denniston said.

"I just love sharing the knowledge and skills that I have acquired as an elite swimmer and a Paralympian."

Denniston was one of five coaches to be honoured by the USOC during the 2012 National Coaching Conference.

Olympic Coach of the Year went to snowboarding halfpipe coach Rick Bower (pictured below, left with halfpipe snowboarder Kelly Clark at Vancouver 2010), Developmental Coach of the Year to judo coach James Hrbek, Volunteer Coach of the Year to rugby coach Tom Waga and the Doc Counsilman Science Award to Neal Henderson for applying scientific principles in the laboratory and on the field to improve athlete performance in cycling.


"These five coaches have impacted countless athletes throughout their exemplary careers," said Alan Ashley, the USOC chief of sport performance.

"They are shining examples of the team behind the team and their efforts have encouraged athletes of all levels to strive for excellence."

The five coaches were honoured after the National Governing Bodies selected their 2011 Coaches of the Year as part of the USOC Coach of the Year Recognition Programme.

The three finalists in each category were then chosen by a panel of coaching and sport education professionals before a single coach in each category received the award.

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