Florida Tech Panthers

David Dent was promoted to head coach of the Florida Tech men's and women's swimming programs in Summer 2018. Dent served one season as assistant swim coach in 2017-18.

For the 2023-24 Season, Dent sent two individuals, freshman Akos Hajagos and junior Katherine Helminiak to the 2024 NCAA Championships. while there, Dent helped lead Hajagos to a second-place finish in the Men's 200 Yard Butterfly, the highest placement of any individual Florida Tech swimmer, men's or women's in program history. Dent also led Hajagos to earn two All-America honors as the freshman earned First-Team All-America status in the 200 Fly and All-America Honorable Mention in the Men's 400 IM.  Under Dent, the Men also ranked No.19 Nationally in the CSCAA Top 25 poll for December and January's polls.

In his sixth season at Tech, Dent sent the three individuals of Daniel Aizenberg, Nicole Rautmberg and Katherine Helminiak along with two relay teams to the 2023 NCAA Championships. Daniel Aizenberg recorded a stellar seventh-place finish in the nation in the 100 back along with a first-place finish in the same event at the SSC Championships. Among the relay teams included was the first-ever women's relay team to compete at NCAA's in Florida Tech history. Aizenberg and Robert Sean Catron were both named CSC Academic All-Americans. Aizenberg earned First-Team Academic All-American honors while Catron earned Honorable Mention All-American Honors.

For the 2022 Season, three individuals earned the right to compete at NCAA's under Dent. Both Daniel Aizenberg and Savannah Brennan returned to the Championships while joined by Nicole Rautmberg. At Nationals, Aizenberg earned First-Team All-American honors in the 100 back and two Honorable Mention Honors in the 200 Back and 100 Butterfly. Training under Dent, Brennan became the first Women's All-American in program history by finishing fifth in the 1000 Freestyle Final earning First-Team All-American along with Honorable Mention awards in the 200 Breast and 400 IM. Aizenberg and Brennan were both named CSCAA Scholar Americans as both men's and women's teams were recognized as CSCAA Scholar All-America Teams.

The Panther head coach returned to the 2021 NCAA Championships with Savannah Brennan and Daniel Aizenberg who had stellar performances. Brennan became the first woman in program history to score points at NCAA's and Aizenberg finished 6th in the nation in 100 back. 

In the 2019-20 season, Dent had two of its members selected by the CSCAA to the All-American teams, junior Savannah Brennan and Senior Dain Rust. Dent qualified Brennan and Rust, but were unable to compete due to the cancellation of the NCCA Championships due to COVID-19. 

While at the 2018 NCAA Championships, the Panthers notched four Top-5 results and garnered six All-American distinctions. The men’s team closed out the season ranked 15th in the final CSCAA Division II poll.

In his first season with Florida Tech, in 2017-18, Dent played an integral role in further developing the Panthers into one of the top swim programs in the Sunshine State Conference.The Florida Tech Swimming program had one of its greatest overall performances at the SSC Championships that season, racking up four conference titles and nine podium visits. The men’s team earned its best result at the conference meet, finishing third in standings with 549 points.
 
Prior to Florida Tech, Dent spent two seasons serving as Interim Head Swim Coach at West Virginia University Institute of Technology. He was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference Men’s Coach of the Year in 2016-17 after the men’s swim team won the AAC Championship. Also that season, the Golden Bears’ women’s squad finished runner-up at the AAC Championships.
 
Dent graduated from Fairmont State University in 2014 with a degree in exercise science. He was a four-year member of the Fairmont State men’s swimming team, co-captaining the Fighting Falcons during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Dent competed in the 2013 NCAA DII National Championships and still holds seven school records at FSU. 

Dent and his wife Emily currently reside together in Melbourne