By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
OTSEGO—Anyone who spent time around an Otsego swim meet during the past three decades probably noticed something about Darryl Belton.
Whether one of his athletes had just won a conference championship or another had simply recorded a long-awaited personal best, Belton’s reaction rarely seemed much different.
He celebrated them all.
That philosophy helped define Belton’s 31-year coaching career at Otsego High School, where he guided generations of Bulldogs while building one of the area’s premier swim and dive programs.
After three decades on the pool deck, Belton recently announced his retirement as head coach of the boys and girls swim and dive teams. He will continue teaching social studies at Otsego High School.
For Belton, the memories he treasures most have little to do with championships or trophies.
“By far the most rewarding part of this job is watching a swimmer/diver have a time or score at their end-of-the-season meet that they never thought they could achieve,” Belton said. “That look of accomplishment on their face is the reason I kept doing this.
“A high school athlete who has sacrificed so much over a 14-to-16 week season, comes to practice every single day and then sees their hard work pay off in a way that they never dreamed it would. The look on their face makes this job the best job on the planet.”
Belton’s own journey in the sport began long before he arrived in Otsego.
He started competitive swimming at age seven and began coaching as an assistant at his alma mater, Berkley High School, in 1982. Two years later, he became the school’s head coach.
In 1995, looking for a change after working in the Detroit suburbs, Belton applied for a social studies teaching position and swim coaching opening in what he jokingly described as “some place called Otsego.”
A recommendation from a trusted friend changed the course of his career.
“I have a friend who was the AD at Mattawan and he couldn’t say enough good things about Otsego and the community,” Belton said. “I applied for the job and the rest is history.”
Over the next 31 years, Belton helped transform the Bulldogs into one of Division 3’s most consistent programs.
His teams regularly competed for conference championships while producing state champions, All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, conference champions, school record holders and countless All-State performers.
Belton himself earned multiple Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Zone 6 Coach of the Year honors while becoming one of the most respected coaches in the state.
Ask him about those accomplishments, however, and he’ll quickly redirect the attention elsewhere.
“The accomplishments? I’m not sure I accomplished a ton here, but the kids I coached sure have,” Belton said. “We’ve had state champions, All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, league champions. But those have all come because each one of those athletes worked their butt off for me, not because I had any magic powder. I am proud of each and every one of those kids.”
Former Otsego diver Caleb Wesseldyk, who earned All-State honors before graduating in 2025, said that humility and genuine care defined Belton’s coaching.
“Coach Belton is the best coach I ever had,” Wesseldyk said. “He was always encouraging, even when I didn’t believe in myself. He pushed me to become the best I could be, but he also cared about you as a person. You could talk to him about more than just swimming or diving.”
Wesseldyk said one characteristic always stood out during his four years in the program.
“He cared just as much about the last person on the team getting a personal best as he did about one of the top swimmers winning a championship,” he said. “It showed that everyone mattered. It wasn’t about one individual. It was about the team.”
That team-first mentality extended well beyond the water.
Belton said some of his favorite memories came not during meets, but during the everyday moments that surrounded them.
“The laughs with the swimmers and divers and the conversations with their parents stand out the most,” he said. “There are probably over a million of those.”
He fondly recalled conversations before practice, stories shared after school, long bus rides and the joy of seeing former athletes return years later.
“I think my favorite thing is when an alumni will drop by during a Christmas break practice or when they come down on deck after a swim meet,” Belton said. “I love seeing them and catching up. It means more than they will ever know that they came back just to say, ‘Hi.’
“People with normal jobs don’t ever get that. I get to see what these student-athletes do after they’ve been gone for a few years. I especially like it when over a vacation practice they bring a cup of coffee and a donut. That makes it even better.”
Belton also takes tremendous pride in helping strengthen the connection between Otsego’s high school program and the Otsego Aquatic Club.
When he arrived in 1995, the age-group club had approximately 15 swimmers and a strained relationship with the high school team. Over time, those relationships flourished, helping create a developmental pipeline that continues to benefit both programs.
“One of the things I am most happy about is the size and stability of the age-group swim club,” Belton said. “It took a couple of years to build up that relationship, but once that happened the club has taken off, and it is awesome to be at the pool and coach 8-year-olds who one day may be on the high school team.”
Another lasting legacy came away from the starting blocks.
Belton played an important advisory role during the planning and development of Otsego’s new aquatic center, which opened in 2023 after years of discussion and planning. The state-of-the-art facility not only transformed the experience for Bulldog swimmers and divers, but also expanded opportunities for youth programs and community members.
The new facility represented a milestone Belton had long hoped to see become reality.
Despite everything the program accomplished, Belton said it was the people who made Otsego special.
“Without a doubt, the people,” he said. “I’ve been blessed with great ADs and principals who have all put up with me and some of my very strange ideas. Our team parents have all been awesome.
“When I talk to my colleagues at clinics or swim meets, most of them have some sort of complaint about a parent or administrator that isn’t very supportive or makes their job harder. I honestly cannot relate to that. The support I’ve gotten over the years has been off the charts.”
Belton admits deciding to retire wasn’t easy.
Ultimately, he said, he realized the enthusiasm he once brought to every practice wasn’t quite the same.
“During my career I have always enjoyed practices way more than the meets,” he said. “Over the past few years I have found my enthusiasm for practice to be waning. And if I can’t get excited about practice then I certainly have no right to ask the athletes to get excited about practice.”
The timing also felt right because he believes the program is in excellent hands with assistant coach Traxel Jirgens.
“I honestly believe the program is better off with him in charge,” Belton said. “I can be around to help and advise, but it’s his time. The program deserves to have the best person leading it, and if I take a step back then I believe they will.”
Asked what coaching at Otsego has meant to him personally, Belton didn’t hesitate.
“Outside of family, everything,” he said. “I will always be a Bulldog, and my thoughts will always be in that pool. It’s been a 30-year love affair.”
And when asked what he hopes his athletes remember most, Belton’s answer had little to do with swimming.
“The biggest takeaway is that if you work hard, do the right thing and can be a good teammate, then good stuff will happen,” he said. “As we all know, there are days as adults when getting out of bed, taking care of the kids, going to work, etc., are awfully hard, but you have to do it.
“If swimming/diving taught them that some days you don’t have it but you still have to show up and try because that is what life demands, then we as a program were successful in helping develop these young people.”
Then came one final thought that perhaps best summarizes a coaching career spanning more than three decades.
“If all anyone got out of this was how to be a better swimmer or diver,” Belton said, “then these last 30 years were a tremendous failure.”
