Hall of Fame

Richard L. Pein, PhD

  • Class
  • Induction
    2025
  • Sport(s)
    UW-La Crosse
Induction Video

(Written: July 2025)

Richard L. Pein, PhD served as the UW-La Crosse men’s swimming & diving head coach from 1979-2012 and 2018-19, and the women’s swimming & diving head coach from 1985-2012 and 2018-19.

The men’s team placed among the top 20 nationally in either the NAIA or NCAA in 11 seasons, while the women’s team finished in the top 12 at the NCAA Division III championship four times, including a school-best fifth in 2004. The women also recorded a pair of NAIA top-20 finishes.

Pein led the women’s team to eight conference titles in his last 12 seasons, including four consecutive from 2002-05. He received the conference’s Coach of the Year distinction 11 times for the women and six times for the men - the 11 women’s awards are the most in conference history. Pein directed the men’s program to a 132-78 dual record and the women’s team to a 119-36 mark. He was named the NAIA District 14 Men’s Coach of the Year in 1990-91 and the NCAA Division III Women's Swimming National Coach of the Year in 2004 by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America.

Pein was inducted into the UW-La Crosse Wall of Fame in 2006, and the natatorium at UW-La Crosse was dedicated in his honor in 2014 and named as the Richard L. Pein Natatorium.

Pein earned a bachelor’s degree in comparative government from Ohio University, master’s degree in physical education and coaching from Illinois State University and PhD in motor behavior from University of Tennessee. He resides in La Crosse, Wis., with his wife Jill. They have three daughters Rebecca, Molly and Chris.