This Dibblee Memory Brought to You by:
SHAWN JANSEN
Merced Union High School Disctrict
MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media
Merced High School honored late longtime aquatics coach Jon Dibblee on Wednesday afternoon with a rededication ceremony for the new pool that opened last spring. A large sign that read “Dibblee’s Deck” hung underneath the video scoreboard. The ceremony was held prior to the Bears water polo games against Los Banos and was attended by Dibblee’s family, school administrators, former and current coaches, MUHSD leaders and Merced County Supervisor Josh Pedrozo.
The ceremony comes a couple weeks after Atwater High held a ceremony rededicating their new pool in honor of former longtime coach Roddy Svendsen. “I really love the decision to name these two new aquatic facilities after two legendary, hall of fame, and foundational coaches for the sport of water polo in our area: Roddy Svendsen on the men side at the Atwater facility and our own Jon Dibblee on the women’s side for the Merced facility,” said former longtime Merced boys aquatic coach Stephen Eccles.
Dibblee coached the girls water polo and swimming teams at Merced High for 30 years, including 24 as the head coach. He coached the Bears girls water polo teams to 10 Central California Conference championships. Many of his former players went on to play in college, including Margie Dingeldein, who also played with Team USA and won a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. From 1988-96, the Bears won seven league championships and reached the Sac-Joaquin Section championship game in 1996 where they lost to Johansen 4-3.
