09/30/2025
DeeDee Baumgarner coached swimming and diving at YHS from 1985- 2010. During that time she also shared her knowledge and techniques with other groups and countries. She was the coach of the Arizona All-Stars in 1986 and 2020. She trained US Olympic swimminers at the US Olympic Training Center 1988 and 1998. Then she expanded her ring of influence coaching the Honduran Olympic team in 2004, the Iraqu national swimmers in 2010 and the Palestinian Olympians in 2012. While in Yuma she coached the AquaForce Swim Club. Although she is now retired and living in Mexico, she is still a certified lifeguard and teaches swimming lessons on the beach in Mexico. Swimming and teaching is in her blood and she continues to share her knowledge.
We asked some of the athletes she has coached to comment on what they learned from her. Here's what they shared:
Kim Elg
Deedee is such a caring and loving coach who cared for her swimmers and wasn’t afraid to correct our attitudes but she was also always there to cheer us on. She is so deserving of this and I’m proud to call her coach and friend
Neely Jane Israel Burkhardt
DeeDee was not only an amazing swim coach, but she was also a positive force that always lifted you up. Her smile and energy were contagious and she’s probably the only person I know that could get you pumped to swim a 500. I have the fondest memories swimming on her team and am so grateful to have had her as a coach. Crim Pride forever!
Erin Lord
I swam 4 years at Yuma high for Dee Dee. YHS was city champs the 4 years I swam and we went to state three years. Coach Bamgarner has been so much more than a swim coach—she’s been a guide, a motivator, and an example of what it means to push past limits. She was tough when we needed discipline, patient when we needed time to grow, and always motivating, even when the workouts felt impossible. One of the greatest gifts she gave us was the sense of family she created on the team. I met my best friend through swimming, and we are still best friends to this day. I lettered in other sports like soccer and track and field, but swimming is the only sport where I can remember every single teammate I ever had. That’s because Dee Dee forged us into more than just a team—she built a family. She made each of us care about one another, hold each other accountable, and celebrate not just individual success but the strength of the whole. Coach also knew how to make hard work fun. My best friend Josh Kaiser and I would do our Hans and Franz routine, and she loved it. It motivated our team, and it even spread to other teams—opponents would ask us to perform the routine for them before they swam. Moments like that showed her ability to make training meaningful, joyful, and unforgettable. Through her coaching, I learned that swimming isn’t just about speed or technique—it’s about resilience, dedication, and believing in yourself when things get hard. But most of all, it’s about the bonds you build along the way, bonds that last a lifetime. Even today, more than 20 years later, I carry her lessons into my professional life. I’ve owned my own business for 23 years, and I work with my employees the way Dee Dee would have coached—leading with respect, integrity, and some fun and laughter, while still getting quality results. Her influence has shaped not only the athlete I became, but the leader I am today. Coach, thank you for never lowering the bar, for seeing more in us than we sometimes saw in ourselves, and for building a team—and a philosophy—that will always feel like home. Your influence will stay with me forever—not just as an athlete, but as a person who knows the value of hard work, loyalty, family, and joy in the process.
Peggy Smith
Deedee Baumgarner was an amazing, positive influence in my life. I took all of her aerobics classes from 1987-1990. She was also my swim coach for lifeguard certification. Home life wasn’t the best for me and most teachers didn’t believe in me… but she did.
Veronica Roberson.
I was a swimmer with Coach DeeDee for three years 95, 96 and 97. Dee Dee Baumgerner, Coach to those who knew her. She was more than just a teacher and coach; she was a cheerleader, your biggest fan. Even during the off-season, she would meet students to help improve on different techniques to use to help their speed in the water and better ways to start a race, how to use your strengths and your weaknesses. Even after her students graduated, she was still active in their lives, keeping in touch with what they were up to and where they were in life. The confidence that Coach taught me in high school is something that I still have to this day. Being a team player to everyone, not just those who are the best, but even more so to those who are not. It takes a team to win races. Be confident with what you can do and do that to the best you can. Never judge yourself by what others do, for you are Unique and Special because of who you are.
Phoebe Johnson
DeeDee was an AWESOME, AMAZING coach. She has known me my entire life and when it came to high school I was so excited to have her as my coach! She pushed us to do our best! Freshman yr she told me the 500 was going to my event! (Ya….. I wasn’t excited about doing distance) but she knew I was going to do well there! She was right! I was one of the top 200 and 500 freestyle swimmers and I truly fell in love with doing it! She is so deserving of this!
Kena Taylor
When I was a sophomore, my friends told me I should join them on the swim team. I came from humble means and had never participated in sports. None of my three older siblings had, either. It sounded fun, so I agreed though I was only a self-taught swimmer. I learned I would need a physical from the doctor’s office, and I immediately told them I likely wouldn’t be able to join the swim team. I didn’t know if my family could afford it. The next day, Deedee brought me a form for a physical, gave me an address, and told me the physical would be free. I don’t know how she did it, but it was the beginning of playing sports for me and my two younger siblings. I was never the best swimmer, but the experience, Deedee’s kindness, the camaraderie of a team, and my becoming coachable all left an indelible impression on my young mind. Influence like this had an impact. I became a teacher myself and am now a school principal. And—you might be pleased to learn—our five children all became very competitive swimmers. Thank you, Deedee. Kena (Winder) Taylor Class of 1994
Blanche Wallis Houll
I was a YHS swimmer and she was my coach Freshman-Junior year. She was the best coach ever, showed great patience with me (I’d never swum competitively before) and I found a sport I just fell in love with. She had patience, kindness and an amazing ability to encourage us that I’d never seen in a coach before. I have so many great things I could say. I am so happy to hear she is being recognized!
Anthony Insunza
I was blessed to have Ms. Baumgardner as a PE teacher at Yuma High School. She taught everybody with dedication & patience. No matter what she taught, swimming or Gym, she was always caring & empathetic with every student’s individual needs. Only Ms. Baumgardner could of fulfilled every student’s goal as she was easy to trust & had a unique way of instructing that motivated her students to master the activity. Thanks to Ms. Baumgardner I learned how to swim & workout properly!!! Thank you Ms. Baumgardner you were the Best!!!!
Allen Irwin
A short note of appreciation for Dee Dee on her induction to the HOF. A great coach and a greater person, she’s the definition of infectious enthusiasm. She wanted her swimmers to be the best people they could be, which is why we appreciate her so much. Not because of accomplishments, though there were plenty, but because she taught us lessons we carry with us to this day.
Scott Shelley
When asked if I had a comment about Coach Baumgarner, I really didn’t know where to start. How could words possibly accurately convey the impact she had on a nerdy, insecure, speedo-wearing 14-year old freshman Diver (and literally hundreds of other young people in the same situation!). It took literally decades for me to understand and appreciate the full impact she had on me, not as an athlete, but as a person. Coach Baumgarner was literally the source and reason I learned many of the life lessons that have stayed with me and shaped my future to this day. She taught me the importance of hard work, the value of “grit” and perseverance, the value of doing “hard things,” the power of friendship and kindness, and the power of positivity. No one was more positive, quick to praise, and fun to be around than Coach Baumgarner, even while demanding dedication and hard work. She treated everyone with respect, and as I reflect on her contributions to my life, I realize that I have continued to model my actions, thoughts, and relationships after her amazing example. And for that I will always love Coach Baumgarner!
We are excited to have her join the YHS HOF. Congratulations Coach Baumgarner!
