Grinnell College Athletics Hall of Fame
William Eric Blevins ’04 was a two-time All-American in diving. Nicknamed "Country," he was the first diver, male or female, to win eight Midwest Conference diving championships and also the only Grinnell diver to accomplish the feat. He helped launch Grinnell’s “men's swimming and diving dynasty,” winning conference titles in his second, third, and fourth years. He won the award for outstanding senior athlete in a single sport in 2004 and owned multiple pool records when he graduated with a major in economics. Blevins received a master’s in sports management from Minnesota State University-Mankato. He became a successful diving coach at a number of institutions, including being named head diving coach at his alma mater, Minnesota State University-Mankato. He is currently in his third season as diving coach at Division I Rider University in New Jersey. His coaching highlights include training two national qualifiers in Division III and five national qualifiers and three All-Americans in Division II. He was also named Missouri Valley Diving Coach of the Year while coaching at Indiana’s University of Evansville. Overall, Blevins has coached four Division I conference divers of the year – one at Evansville and three at Rider. In his free time he is a member of the Grinnell Regional Admission Support Program (GRASP) for the admissions department at Grinnell, promoting the College at high schools on the East Coast.
