Dale P. Gooding

Dale Gooding has been a member of the Saginaw YMCA since he was nine-years-old and the “Y” was located on N. Michigan and Ames Street. He went from Arthur Hill Trade School to Arthur Hill High School to finish his senior year, and was talked into joining the recently-organized Lumberjacks’ swim team. Little did he know he would spend the next 65 years connected to the sport of swimming in one form or another. The 1944 Arthur Hill graduate served two years in the U.S. Navy before becoming a volunteer American Red Cross water safety instructor and YMCA aquatic program leader from 1946-91 (45 years). For 10 years Gooding volunteered as a Merit Badge counselor of swimming and life saving for the Boy Scouts of America. From 1954-91, he was a volunteer YMCA swim team coach, winning numerous Northeast District championships, including the 1967 Midget state championship. From 1948-2016, a span of 68 years, Gooding has served as a swimming official on both the high school level and collegiately in the Big Ten. In 1971, he received the Charles Potts Memorial Award for contributions to YMCA in Michigan. From 1973-85, he served as an assistant swim coach at the YMCA’s Camp Timbers. In 1974, Gooding was one of six inaugural inductees that entered the Saginaw Swimming Officials Association Hall of Fame. In 1988, he was awarded Saginaw’s Gold Seal Proclamation in appreciation for his 35 years as boys and girls swim coach at the Saginaw YMCA. Three years later he received the National YMCA Letter of Recognition, acknowledging his outstanding contributions and service to the Saginaw community from the National Aquatic Director. He was also recognized by the Saginaw Bar Association with its prestigious Liberty Bell Award for his community service and dedication to helping others. Gooding was inducted into the Arthur Hill High School Letterwinner’s Hall of Fame in 2011.