Title IX Spotlight: Denise Dombay
6/23/2022 11:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Former swimmer reflects on program's impact and continued growth
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, this is the first entry in a GWsports.com series highlighting exemplary alumnae who remain connected to the Buff and Blue reflecting on the past, present and future of their programs.
The unmistakable buzz of meet day at Smith Center Pool transports Denise Dombay back.
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Much has changed about the GW swimming and diving program since she was competing in the mid-1980s, but there's a certain spirit that has endured across generations of Buff and Blue student-athletes.
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"It's always been very much a family," Dombay said. "Seeing the camaraderie and support that the swimmers have for each other is amazing."
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Three-plus decades after graduation, Dombay is appreciative of the valuable lessons, career opportunities and everlasting friendships that the program has provided and grateful to still be part of the family for a group that continues to blossom under Head Coach Brian Thomas.
"I think of GW as the place where I grew into a woman," said Dombay, who still lives locally in Gaithersburg, Md., while working as an executive at a financial non-profit and running the high-tech swim school she opened in 2018. "That's where I learned about life. I learned about myself and relationships and about being reliable and accountable and resilient. In so many ways, it's made me who I am today."
For Dombay, Foggy Bottom has felt like home since 1984.
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Growing up in suburban Philadelphia the daughter of two teachers, she dreamed of attending a city school on the East Coast with a strong business program. She found a fit at GW thanks to a combination athletic and academic scholarship at a time when such opportunities remained relatively rare a dozen years after Title IX was signed into law.
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Back then, she joined a split program under the direction of Pam (Mauro) Ambrose, a young and energetic leader fresh out of West Virginia.
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"Pam wanted us to be good students, healthy women and good athletes," Dombay remembered. "That's the foundation the program was built on."
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A distance specialist who set the program record in the 200 IM, Dombay was a two-year co-captain for a group whose main goals in the pool were taking down regional opponents in head-to-head competition and cheering each other on to posting personal-bests. The top performers finished each season at the Eastern Women's Swimming League Championship.
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The best memories, Dombay said, came out of the pool, like the annual season-opening road trip to Penn State, winter break training trips and Saturday night team gatherings. This helped forge relationships that remain strong today, especially with her closest friends Liz Shapiro, Debbie Briggs, Claire Hinck and Nikki Whitlock.
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"We had each other's backs," Dombay said. "The minute we got on campus in the fall, we found the freshmen and made sure they were settling in and transitioning safely to college life. We always watch out for and take care of each other."
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Dombay credits her swimming experience with helping launch her professional career.
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After earning her Accounting degree, she leaned on lessons about persistence and teamwork gleaned through sport throughout her interview process with the firm Arthur Andersen. Ultimately, she was offered a job (as well as a swim spot on the corporate sports battle team), and that opportunity set the course for her success in the industry.
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Through the years, Dombay has taken pride in the chance to pay it forward to those who have followed in her footsteps. She's a member of the GW Athletics Advisory Council, sponsors a scholarship for the women's program and has been an enthusiastic mentor to many student-athletes in the GW School of Business.
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"For me, it's been great getting to know the swimmers on an individual basis and following their paths," Dombay said. "It's their swimming path, which of course is exciting and awesome to watch, but also their career path as they come out of school and start looking for jobs and move on to bigger and better things."
Dombay's swimming career came full circle four years ago with the opening of her SwimLabs Swim School. Her search for an aquatics director became a reunion with the hiring of Ambrose, who joined the school after a long run working for the Montgomery County Department of Recreation.
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"We still talk about our days at GW," said Dombay, who remains an active competitor herself at the masters level. "That connection never ends."
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In recent years, former coach and pupil have marveled at a program that has taken continued steps forward to become the class of the Atlantic 10 and found a place on the national stage.
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Dombay makes the short trip to 22nd & G for home meets whenever she can and always logs onto the livestream of the A-10 Championships. The alumni Facebook group was a flurry of activity last February when the program made history with its first-ever sweep of the conference titles.
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"There's definitely a lot of pride around the program," Dombay said. "My friends and I always say that we'd never be able to make the team now. It's just great to see that it has survived and it has thrived."