DAVIS, Calif. - Phil Tonne has been around swimming pools and specifically diving boards for most of his life.
 
The longtime UC Davis diving coach will retire this spring after 22 years of leading Aggie fortunes, the final part of his 47-year career as a head diving coach at the collegiate level. His contributions to the sport are legendary.
 
"It was our good fortune to have welcomed Phil to our Aggie aquatic family back in 2004.  He immediately made a huge impact on the men's and women's swimming program with his coaching expertise. He was a great leader besides being a great coach and provided his divers (over 62 men and women) with life skills that will live on forever," said Barbara Jahn, former UC Davis women's swimming and diving coach.
 
Put simply, every Aggie diving record on both the men's and women's side has been set since Tonne took over the program at the start of the 2004-05 season. That accomplishment, in and of itself, is likely to land him in the Cal Aggie Athletic Hall of Fame one day. A memorable Big West championship meet in 2010 produced Jennifer Meyer's 1-meter title and Jason Andrade's 3-meter crown, both program firsts. In earlier seasons under Tonne, Kristyn Chaldekas and Jamie Flynn starred for UC Davis.
 
Speaking of his youth, Tonne explained, "I was a small but energetic kid. We hung out at a local private club pool. My brother and I took lessons when I was nine years old. I picked it up pretty quick."
 
Pick it up he did.
 
Tonne was a top diver in high school, then reached new heights at Chabot College in Hayward as one of the top two community college divers in California, earning JC All-American honors two years in a row. From there it was on to San Diego State, where he graduated with honors while twice being named team Most Valuable Player. It was there where Tonne started his Masters degree and began his collegiate coaching career.
 
After five years at San Diego State, he took over the Cal diving program in Berkeley and guided the Golden Bears for the next 20 years. Success followed Tonne to Berkeley, but after 20 seasons at Cal, he jumped at the opportunity to come to UC Davis.
 
The rest is history.
 
"Phil's retirement signals the end of an era at UC Davis," reflects current UC Davis swimming and diving head coach Matt Macedo. "Phil has impacted so many different lives in his decades of coaching diving. The men and women who have worked with Phil have always appreciated his passion for the sport and for his positive impact on their lives.
 
"My relationship with coach Phil, which began in 1998 as a student-athlete at Cal, has truly come full circle and to be able to work with him these past five seasons at UC Davis nearly thirty years into our relationship has been special. I am eternally grateful for all he has done for our program and am excited to hear about the time Phil will spend with his son and grandchildren in retirement."
 
Along the way, Tonne has also served as head coach of the Diablo Divers in Walnut Creek, overseeing the careers of 23 North Coast Section champions, one national age-group champion, 11 Junior Olympic participants and six senior national performers.
 
He also coached a young man on his youth club team who went on to win a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. As to what makes a great diver, Tonne says it's similar to many other sports.
 
"There are a lot of the normal variables," he explains.
 
"Commitment, flexibility, coordination. But God-given talent is the best."
 
Tonne says that the best things about coaching "are the people you meet or coach or mentor and their parents. I am still in contact with divers I coached at the beginning of my Cal stint. I had some great finishes throughout my career, but it's always been about the journey, more than the results."
 
Spoken like a true coach who believes very much in the student-athlete model at UC Davis.
 
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS
UC Davis, ranked No. 2 among public universities by the Wall Street Journal in the value of a college degree, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked top in the United States in agriculture and forestry as well as No. 1 in veterinary medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026–27.