Bonnie Dix Retires After 37 Years as Wellesley Head Coach

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Photo Courtesy: Andy Ross

Bonnie Dix Retires After 37 Years as Wellesley Head Coach

Bonnie Dix announced her retirement after 37 years leading the swimming and diving program at Wellesley College.

Dix, who also served as an associate professor, will stay on through the end of the academic year. She guided the Blue to 33 winning seasons at the helm, including four undefeated dual-meet campaigns, the last in 2019-20.

“I have been incredibly blessed to have had the best job working with amazing student athletes,” Dix said in a university statement. “I have learned so much from them over the years, both as a coach and as a person. I will miss my time on deck; it has been the highlight of my day for 37 years!”

The longest-tenured coach in Wellesley history, Dix mentored three NCAA Division III champions and two New England champions. She led 24 athletes to compiled 33 All-American honors, and they won the Seven Sisters Championship 28 times under her tutelage, including 22 consecutive from 1998-2019.

NCAA Division III Swimming News

Wellesley finished 32nd at the 2024 NCAA Division III Championships.

“Bonnie has given so much to this program and to the College,” said Bethany Ellis, Wellesley Director of Athletics. “Most importantly, she has impacted the growth of generations of student-athletes and physical education students who have splashed through Wellesley. Bonnie has given her all to the Blue and her legacy will be felt by student-athletes for generations to come.”

Dix’s conference championships include the first two of the NEWMAC era in the late 1990s and the only New England Women’s 8 title in 1997-98. She was the coach of the year that year and was three times named NEWMAC Coach of the Year.

Dix swam at the University of Vermont. She received a master’s degree from the University of Tennessee, where she served as an assistant head coach and interim head coach, helping the Volunteers get their first SEC individual champion. Dix has also overseen the Wellesley program through a massive renovation of Chandler Pool.

“I wanted to see the pool renovation through, so that next fall a new coach can walk out onto a beautiful deck and start the next exciting chapter for Wellesley Swimming and Diving,” Dix said. “Change can produce anxiety, but more importantly this will be an exciting and invigorating time, an opportunity to create something new, and to build on our tradition of excellence.”

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