The Dick Hannula Award is given to the top male and female amateur athletes in or from Tacoma-Pierce County for the past year. Hannula, an internationally-known coach and a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, also led his Wilson boys swim teams to 24 straight state titles, and coached numerous world-class swimmers such as Kaye Hall-Greff, Janet Buchan Elway, Barbara Mitchell, Chuck Richards, Dick, David and Dan Hannula, Miriam Smith, and Sarah Rudolph.
Hannula began his coaching career in 1952 and retired 41 years later in 1993. He was one of the developers of the American Swim Coaches Association’s Swim America Program. He has coached four U.S. Olympic team swimmers, including Kaye Hall, Olympic and world-record holder for the 100-meter backstroke, as well as Janet Buchan Elway, Chuck Richards, Dick, David and Dan Hannula, and Miriam Smith Greenwood among others.
Aside from Hannula’s interscholastic success, he has also coached the Pan-American Games team and five U.S. International swim teams. He served as a manager for two U.S. Olympic teams and one Pan-American Games team.
Hannula was named the National High School Coach of the Year in 1980 and awarded the NISCA National Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming trophy in 1980. He is a member of the NISCA and International Swimming Halls of Fame.
Award Recipients
| Year | Award | School |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Hannah Pukis |
Bellarmine Prep High School
Washington State University/ University of Oregon
|
| Brandon Kaylor |
Bonney Lake High School
Oregon State University
|
|
| 2023 | Emeka Egbuka |
Steilacoom High School
Ohio State University
|
| Bryanna Maxwell |
Gig Harbor High School
Gonzaga University
|
|
| 2022 | Kendall Burks |
Stadium High School
University of Washington
|
| Zyonna Fellows |
Mt. Tahoma High School
University of Arizona
|
|
| 2021 | No recipients due to COVID | |
| 2020 | Bellarmine Prep High School San Diego State University |
|
| Curtis High School Washington State University |
||
| 2019 | Sumner High School University of Puget Sound |
|
| Fife High School University of Washington |
||
| 2018 | Annie Wright Claremont McKenna College |
|
| Bonney Lake High School Oregon State |
||
| 2017 | Tri-Valley High School (NY) Georgetown University |
|
| Bellarmine Prep University of Colorado |
||
| 2016 | Emerald Ridge High School Portland State University |
|
| Curtis High School Washington State University |
||
| Puyallup High School Stanford University |
||
| 2015 | Curtis High School Washington State University |
|
|
|
Puyallup High School | |
| 2014 | Foss High School Oregon State University |
|
| Bellarmine Prep University of Washington |
||
| 2013 | Curtis High School University of Kansas |
|
| Orting High School Oregon State University |
||
| 2012 | Lincoln High School University of Puget Sound |
|
| Gig Harbor High School University of Washington |
||
| Curtis High School University of Kansas |
||
| 2011 | Lincoln High School Georgia Tech University |
|
| Life Christian Academy Pepperdine University |
||
| 2010 | Bellarmine Prep University of North Carolina |
|
| Curtis High School University of Washington |
||
| 2009 | Puyallup High School Central Washington University |
|
| Sumner High School U.S. Olympics Team |
||
| 2008 | Rogers High School Washington State University |
|
| Puyallup High School University of Washington |
||
| 2007 | Cascade Christian High School Ohio State University |
|
| Emerald Ridge High School Pacific Lutheran University |
||
| 2006 | Puyallup High School University of Washington |
|
| Foss High School Portland State University |
||
| 2005 | Ryan Moore | Cascade Christian High School University of Nevada at Las Vegas |
| 2004 | Reggie Williams | University of Washington |
| 2003 | Ryan Moore | Cascade Christian High School University of Nevada at Las Vegas |
| 2002 | Dana Boyle | University of Puget Sound |
| 2001 | Chad Johnson | Rogers High School Pacific Lutheran University |
| 2000 | Megan Quann Jendrick | Emerald Ridge High School Pacific Lutheran University |
| 1999 | Kirk White | Curtis High School Boise State University |
| 1997 | Shannon Forslund | Mt. Tahoma High School |
| 1996 | Karl Lerum | Pacific Lutheran University |
| Dusty Brett | Bellarmine Prep | |
| 1995 | Brock Huard | Puyallup High School |
| 1994 | Marc Weekly | Rogers High School Pacific Lutheran University |
| 1993 | Kate Starbird | Lakes High School |
| 1992 | Sonya Olejar | Bellarmine Prep Pepperdine University |
| 1991 | Damon Huard | Puyallup High School |
| 1990 | Andy Maris | White River High School |
| 1988 | Sonya Brandt | Pacific Lutheran University |
| Mike Oliphant | University of Puget Sound |
|
| 1987 | Jim Martinson | Puyallup High School |