Chesterton High School Coach, 1980 – Current
Kevin Kinel’s girls and boys teams have won 20 Duneland Athletic Conference titles each, while the girls also have 20 Sectional titles and the boys have won 18 Sectional titles. Kinel has coached his swimmers to 38 individual swimming titles, 12 relay titles, and four boys team championships since joining Chesterton High School. “I could spill out thousands of kids names that are part of this,” Kinel said. “The elite level kids had the talent, but they had someone else to train with and be supportive. All the coaches in age group and high school have been unbelievable. Jim Voss in the age group has done an unbelievable job and I’ve had several high school assistants through the years.” Coach Kinel has earned Sectional Coach of the Year a total of 39 times (boys and girls combined), and was honored as Indiana High School State Girls Coach of The Year in 1999 and Boys Coach of the Year in 2008, 2009 and 2013, and the National Federation of State High School Associations Central Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2013. In 2016 he was honored with the Outstanding Service Award from the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association. All total, Kevin Kinel has produced 43 first team All-Americans. His former swimmer, Blake Pieroni, competed for the 2016 US Olympic Team in Rio de Janeiro. He is married to his wife Barb and has two sons, Ryan and Steven.