FULL CLASS OF 2022 | HALL OF FAME HOMEPAGE
Born and raised on Chicago's North Side, Darlene Renie became a Boilermaker and then a Big Ten champion. Having spent much of her adult life proudly representing and supporting all that is good about Purdue Swimming & Diving, she can now add Hall of Famer to a well-crafted career at the only university she has ever known.
Renie (née Warta) was a two-time Big Ten champion in the 200 butterfly, three-time All-American and eight-time Big Ten medalist, becoming Purdue's first woman to break two minutes in her signature event. As a junior, she distinguished herself as the Boilermakers' first female swimmer to be an All-American in an individual event. She graduated as the program record holder in both butterfly events and remained one of only two Boilermakers to ever go sub-two minutes in the 200 fly until 2006.
Yet her greatest impact has been made on the lives of the Boilermakers who followed in her footsteps. As a member of the Purdue Swimming & Diving coaching staff since the summer of 1997, more than two dozen classes of student-athletes at the pool have benefited from Renie's wisdom and kindheartedness. As they transition into alumni, Renie helps keep the different eras of the swimming & diving programs connected.
The bridge between the Lambert Pool years and the new millennium at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center is best personified by Renie along with her friends, colleagues and fellow alumni, head coaches Dan Ross and John Klinge.
A 1990 Purdue grad, Renie returned to campus as a women's assistant coach in 1997 and transitioned to the supervisor of operations for both programs at the Burke Aquatic Center in the summer of 2011. Like Ross and Klinge, Renie is married to a former swimmer. She and husband Jeff raised their three children in Greater Lafayette.
"Purdue has helped shape me into the woman I am today," Renie said. "Purdue is family – Dan Ross is a prime example. I felt that as a student-athlete, as an assistant coach and now in the operations role. I want to create a positive environment for success for my fellow staffers, current student-athletes, campers and campus visitors. I want all our Purdue Swimming & Diving alumni to know that they will always be special. I enjoy reminding them of all of their best memories as a Boilermaker."
Renie proudly cites the unique nature of the three most influential women in her life all sharing the same name. Her mother, Kathie Warta. The woman that recruited her to Purdue, Kathie Wickstrand. And the woman she swam for and later coached alongside, Cathy Wright-Eger.
"Kathie Warta, Kathie Wickstrand and Cathy Wright-Eger are pivotal people in my journey," Darlene says. Wickstrand was Purdue's head coach from 1985-87 before opting to return home to Chicagoland to take over Northwestern's program. Renie enrolled at Purdue in the fall of 1986.
"Kathie Wickstrand recruited me to Purdue and believed in me. She started calling me and then did a home visit. Meeting in person on that home visit is really what got me to thinking strongly about Purdue. I took a visit and fell in love with the team and campus. I really wanted to be the little fish in the big pond and work my way toward being the big fish. The scholarship offer that I received was not as big as some of the other schools I was looking at, and it cost more to attend Purdue on account of growing up in Chicago. Fortunately, my parents supported me and believed in me. They trusted me to make the best decision and they allowed me to become a Boilermaker.
"Cathy Wright-Eger came aboard to coach and continued to believe in me," Renie continued. "She taught me that I could achieve whatever I set my mind to do. Teammates Claire Williamson and Catherine Niehaus taught me about confidence. Jill Groff was one of my best swimming buddies throughout our college careers.
"It is easy to understand why I chose to return to Purdue to coach with Cathy. She has always been an important role model for me. As a coach, the quartet of Lisa Dolansky, Lindsay Lange, Patricia Finnerty and Kim Paradeise were incredibly important in my career. They helped us reach a new level and literally kept me in coaching during a difficult time as a working mom. As an assistant coach, watching athletes win events at Big Tens and breaking barriers are some of my favorite memories."
Renie medaled at the Big Ten Championships all four years and was a three-year individual qualifier for the NCAA Championships, becoming Purdue's first female swimmer to score at NCAAs as an All-American in the 200 butterfly in 1989 and 1990.
"My favorite memories are the obviously the victories at Big Tens," Renie said. "But I also look back fondly at finishing second in the 200 fly my freshman year from lane 8. I was lucky I made it into finals. Winning the 200 fly my sophomore year at Big Tens was my breakthrough, and then becoming an All-American while breaking the two-minute mark my junior year.
"Cathy was always making me warm down. Before that 200 fly swim at NCAAs, I told her I would not have to warm down after it because it was the last event of the season. I was so tired and gave it my all on that race, all I wanted to do was swim easy after that event and warmed down anyway. Cathy always had my best interests in mind. Repeating as a Big Ten champion in the 200 fly my senior year was sweet after being out touched as a junior."
Renie joins Keith Carter (inducted 1994), Jeanne (Wilson) Vaughn (1998), Kim (Fritsch) Morstadt (2006), coach Dick Papenguth (2006), Carol "Penny" (Pence) Taylor (2006), Walt Everman (2012), Vilmos Kovacs (2015), David Boudia (2016), Carrie (McCambridge) Karkoska (2016) and Casey (Matthews) Spitz (2019) as Boilermakers that represented Purdue Swimming & Diving to be inducted into the LeRoy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame.
Honorees or their representatives will be publicly honored at Mackey Arena during the Purdue Men's Basketball game against Ohio State on Sunday, Feb. 19. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
By Ben Turner, Associate Strategic Communications Director - Purdue Athletics
Born and raised on Chicago's North Side, Darlene Renie became a Boilermaker and then a Big Ten champion. Having spent much of her adult life proudly representing and supporting all that is good about Purdue Swimming & Diving, she can now add Hall of Famer to a well-crafted career at the only university she has ever known.
Renie (née Warta) was a two-time Big Ten champion in the 200 butterfly, three-time All-American and eight-time Big Ten medalist, becoming Purdue's first woman to break two minutes in her signature event. As a junior, she distinguished herself as the Boilermakers' first female swimmer to be an All-American in an individual event. She graduated as the program record holder in both butterfly events and remained one of only two Boilermakers to ever go sub-two minutes in the 200 fly until 2006.
Yet her greatest impact has been made on the lives of the Boilermakers who followed in her footsteps. As a member of the Purdue Swimming & Diving coaching staff since the summer of 1997, more than two dozen classes of student-athletes at the pool have benefited from Renie's wisdom and kindheartedness. As they transition into alumni, Renie helps keep the different eras of the swimming & diving programs connected.
The bridge between the Lambert Pool years and the new millennium at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center is best personified by Renie along with her friends, colleagues and fellow alumni, head coaches Dan Ross and John Klinge.
A 1990 Purdue grad, Renie returned to campus as a women's assistant coach in 1997 and transitioned to the supervisor of operations for both programs at the Burke Aquatic Center in the summer of 2011. Like Ross and Klinge, Renie is married to a former swimmer. She and husband Jeff raised their three children in Greater Lafayette.
"Purdue has helped shape me into the woman I am today," Renie said. "Purdue is family – Dan Ross is a prime example. I felt that as a student-athlete, as an assistant coach and now in the operations role. I want to create a positive environment for success for my fellow staffers, current student-athletes, campers and campus visitors. I want all our Purdue Swimming & Diving alumni to know that they will always be special. I enjoy reminding them of all of their best memories as a Boilermaker."
Renie proudly cites the unique nature of the three most influential women in her life all sharing the same name. Her mother, Kathie Warta. The woman that recruited her to Purdue, Kathie Wickstrand. And the woman she swam for and later coached alongside, Cathy Wright-Eger.
"Kathie Warta, Kathie Wickstrand and Cathy Wright-Eger are pivotal people in my journey," Darlene says. Wickstrand was Purdue's head coach from 1985-87 before opting to return home to Chicagoland to take over Northwestern's program. Renie enrolled at Purdue in the fall of 1986.
"Kathie Wickstrand recruited me to Purdue and believed in me. She started calling me and then did a home visit. Meeting in person on that home visit is really what got me to thinking strongly about Purdue. I took a visit and fell in love with the team and campus. I really wanted to be the little fish in the big pond and work my way toward being the big fish. The scholarship offer that I received was not as big as some of the other schools I was looking at, and it cost more to attend Purdue on account of growing up in Chicago. Fortunately, my parents supported me and believed in me. They trusted me to make the best decision and they allowed me to become a Boilermaker.
"Cathy Wright-Eger came aboard to coach and continued to believe in me," Renie continued. "She taught me that I could achieve whatever I set my mind to do. Teammates Claire Williamson and Catherine Niehaus taught me about confidence. Jill Groff was one of my best swimming buddies throughout our college careers.
"It is easy to understand why I chose to return to Purdue to coach with Cathy. She has always been an important role model for me. As a coach, the quartet of Lisa Dolansky, Lindsay Lange, Patricia Finnerty and Kim Paradeise were incredibly important in my career. They helped us reach a new level and literally kept me in coaching during a difficult time as a working mom. As an assistant coach, watching athletes win events at Big Tens and breaking barriers are some of my favorite memories."
Renie medaled at the Big Ten Championships all four years and was a three-year individual qualifier for the NCAA Championships, becoming Purdue's first female swimmer to score at NCAAs as an All-American in the 200 butterfly in 1989 and 1990.
"My favorite memories are the obviously the victories at Big Tens," Renie said. "But I also look back fondly at finishing second in the 200 fly my freshman year from lane 8. I was lucky I made it into finals. Winning the 200 fly my sophomore year at Big Tens was my breakthrough, and then becoming an All-American while breaking the two-minute mark my junior year.
"Cathy was always making me warm down. Before that 200 fly swim at NCAAs, I told her I would not have to warm down after it because it was the last event of the season. I was so tired and gave it my all on that race, all I wanted to do was swim easy after that event and warmed down anyway. Cathy always had my best interests in mind. Repeating as a Big Ten champion in the 200 fly my senior year was sweet after being out touched as a junior."
Renie joins Keith Carter (inducted 1994), Jeanne (Wilson) Vaughn (1998), Kim (Fritsch) Morstadt (2006), coach Dick Papenguth (2006), Carol "Penny" (Pence) Taylor (2006), Walt Everman (2012), Vilmos Kovacs (2015), David Boudia (2016), Carrie (McCambridge) Karkoska (2016) and Casey (Matthews) Spitz (2019) as Boilermakers that represented Purdue Swimming & Diving to be inducted into the LeRoy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame.
Honorees or their representatives will be publicly honored at Mackey Arena during the Purdue Men's Basketball game against Ohio State on Sunday, Feb. 19. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
By Ben Turner, Associate Strategic Communications Director - Purdue Athletics