Staff Directory

Dana Grindall

Title:
Assistant Head Coach/Director of On-Campus Recruiting

Dana Grindall joins the Indiana swimming and diving coaching staff ahead of the 2026-27 season following three seasons as an assistant coach at Yale. Grindall will serve as assistant head coach as well as director of on-campus recruiting.

“We are excited to welcome Dana to Indiana swimming,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “Her recent experience at both Colgate and Yale has prepared her at an elite level to help lead our program. She is an exceptional communicator and outstanding coach on both a technical and training basis. Her recruiting ability is particularly key in this new climate. Dana fits perfectly with our athlete-centric coaching philosophy. We look forward to what we can accomplish with her in Bloomington!”

Grindall was part of the Men’s Ivy League Coaching Staff of the Year in 2026, as the Yale program produced seven NCAA qualifiers, three All-Americans, six conference championships and seven second-team All-Ivy honors. Yale swimmers recorded 14 program records and eight pool records.

The year prior, Yale placed 20th at the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships with a program featuring eight NCAA qualifiers – three of whom earned All-American honors. Grindall helped guide Yale swimmers to eight Ivy League titles, six second-team All-Ivy awards, 18 program record and seven pool records.

In Grindall’s first season at Yale, the 2023-24 academic year, the program sent six athletes to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and two to the NCAA Championships to go with four second-team All-Ivy honors, seven program records and five pool records.

Prior to Yale, Grindall worked as head junior coach at the Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club following her stint as an assistant coach at Colgate beginning in 2019. Grindall served Colgate as head sprint coach as well as recruiting coordinator, and her duties included social media management and travel coordination.

Before becoming a collegiate coach, Grindall spent two years in Las Vegas, Nevada, as an educator for Teach for America, while also serving as the swimming coach at Western High School. During that time, she earned a Master of Education degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Grindall returns to the Big Ten nine years after her collegiate swimming career at Wisconsin. In Madison, she was a two-time Olympic trials qualifier, Big Ten Champion, first-team All-Big Ten selection and became an All-American in 2015. She broke the program record in the 200-yard butterfly in 2016, a mark that stood for six years. She served as a team captain during her 2016-17 senior season.

The Orange, Connecticut, native earned a bachelor's degree in human development and family studies from the University of Wisconsin in May 2017.