LIBERTY TWP. — Dennis Beck remembers taking a bus to Norwood for swim practice.
He likely used a paper map to navigate. But either way, his swim teams got there.
“It was really hard to find athletes who would want to take the bus, drive to Norwood and drive back from Norwood,” Beck said.
“And if you’ve driven that drive, you will know how pleasant that is,” he added with sarcasm.
There were instances where the commute was unscathed. Other times, practice was cut short because of a delay on I-75.
Things weren’t perfect when Beck became the head swim coach for Lakota’s two high schools. But that’s exactly how he had to begin to build the Lakota East and Lakota West programs 28 years ago when they split from Lakota.
Norwood High School was the team’s home for practices — a daily 20-minute drive on an uninterrupted travel — for the foreseeable future.
“They allowed us to grow our program,” Beck said of Norwood’s welcoming arms.
“The community partnerships and the support that we’ve had throughout the years — it really did allow us to become better.”
After nearly three decades of providing dedicated leadership as the head coach at East and West, Beck announced his decision to retire.
Beck has been instrumental in forming a legacy of excellence in swimming and character development among the student-athletes at Lakota Schools.
“I think the thing that I always wanted to instill was that you win by simply getting better,” Beck said. “A lot of coaches have trouble understanding this because their seasons are based off wins and losses — which ours is sort of — but you don’t have go to a meet and lose the meet. Every kid can have a best time — so you did win the meet, essentially.”
It was that type of mentality that separated Beck from other coaches.
Just ask Lakota School District’s athletic directors.
“Dennis has left an indelible mark on the Lakota swimming program and the student-athletes he has mentored,” Lakota East Athletic Director Jill Meiring said. “Coach Beck’s leadership, dedication and passion for the sport have created a lasting legacy that will continue to inspire future generations.”
“For over three decades. Coach Beck has been an exceptional leader and generational coach who has given his life to the service of others and positively impacted so many kids and colleagues,” Lakota West Athletic Director Scott Kaufman said. “His commitment and passion to all of our student-athletes and Lakota Athletics is something we will greatly miss.”
Getting better from the start
Beck was teaching 28 years ago at the Lakota Freshman School which is currently Lakota Ridge.
He believes he received a phone call — because email wasn’t really around much — by then-district athletic director Stu Eversole.
“He asked if I could meet up with him,” said Beck, who was a club coach for the Cincinnati Marlins. He was Sycamore’s junior high coach prior to that.
“They kind of offered to put the two teams together and wanted to know if I was interested.
“I thought about it and took the job.”
Beck reasoned that it was opportunistic to be coaching and teaching in the same district.
As a club coach and traveling for most events, Beck said the high school schedule would work out to his benefit as well.
His get-better mindset was immediately established, which ultimately led to a hall of fame-worthy résumé.
– He coached 28 consecutive years with a state qualifier at Lakota East or Lakota West, which resulted in five state champions.
– He earned Greater Miami Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
– He was named Southwest District Women’s Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2022, and Men’s Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2024.
– He served on the OHSSCA executive board and received the Larry Lyons Service Award (2013-14).
– He received the OHSAA Sports Ethics and Integrity Award in 2017.
“Coaching this team has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” Beck said. “I have enjoyed watching the athletes grow as swimmers and individuals. We have built an environment where team spirit, camaraderie and fast swimming have all become part of our culture.”
Beck has been an integral part of the Lakota school district, beginning his teaching career at Lakota Freshman School in 1995, before moving to Lakota Ridge in 1997 and later transitioning to East Freshman School a decade ago.
“I think the one thing that I’m probably really proud of is the fact that we’ve had a state qualifier every year I’ve coached,” Beck said. “I had somebody in the pool at Canton every year for 28 years.”
Old-school mentality
Beck wears an old-school coaching approach on his sleeve.
His doesn’t text. He doesn’t use GPS on his phone. He calls in-person meetings. He uses email for communication.
“I’ll admit it. I’m as old-school as it gets,” Beck said. “They don’t have my cell phone. It’s just a line that I don’t cross.
“My swimmers always joke with me, ‘Oh, we should have a text thread.’ I said, ‘Nope. Check your email.’
Beck even called a team meeting to announce that he was retiring.
“I didn’t think email should have been the first way that they heard the news,” he said. “I believe in leaving and setting the right message for them also. You just don’t send a text and say, ‘Hey, I’m not doing this anymore.’”
But one message he received showed Beck’s ability to relate with his student-athletes.
A former swimmer — who also became one of his assistant coaches — asked him nearly 15 years ago to officiate their wedding.
And since then, he’s officiated four more.
“One just asked me to do their wedding in December,” Beck said.
“I just think it’s very fulfilling to have kids who think enough of you to say, ‘Hey, can you officiate my wedding?’
“It’s a personal relationship that you’re still talking to kids you coached 28 years ago. I think that’s just part of the culture we try to build.”
He preached being a “swimming family and trying to make sure that everybody is doing what they’re supposed to be doing and where they’re supposed to be at.
“My hope is that my swimmers reached those expectations and look back on it and realize that hard work and meeting those expectations pays off now and in the future.”
And for Beck, it went beyond just the student-athlete.
“I think back on all of the assistant coaches I’ve had, the different parents who have been very supportive,” he said. “I’ve had families who have been part of the program for nine years, 12 years. It’s just very rewarding to have those folks believe in the program and still communicate with you and still make you feel like you did something that was more than just getting the kids to be faster in the water.
“So, because swimming is based on time, you can still have a successful meet because every kid got faster. That’s where I think people sometimes get lost in there, ‘Well, who won?’ It depends.
“You can go swim that meet, and the kids could all improve. That’s why I think you have to focus on that personal improvement and the journey over the season that you’re trying to be faster at the end of the season than you were at the beginning of the season.”
Beck’s family saved a surprise for him at the end of this past season.
“A group of eight or nine of my cousins showed up at an away meet,” Beck said. “I was like, ‘What are you all doing? Why are you all here?’
“One of them said, ‘Because this is your last year.’ I said, ‘Hey, zip it.’ I wanted to make it about the kids, so I didn’t announce that I was retiring until after the end of the season.
“My swimmers were probably like, ‘He has that much family?’ I missed a lot of things over the years because of swimming. That’s sort of the price you pay for doing this. It was kind of cool to have them come to an away meet.
“I was just very insistent that this year needs to be about our seniors, our program and not about my last meet. I didn’t want that.”
But what Beck said he wants is a little time to himself. He plans on hanging out at his cabin around water on Indian Lake.
“Which should surprise no one,” he laughed.
“And if anyone would need to get ahold of me, it would have to be through email.”
