Deborah Dourlain

Deborah Dourlain

A four-sport standout at Orchard Park High School, Deborah Dourlain (’79) is one of the most highly regarded prep swimmers to ever come out of Western New York. Deb moved to Western New York prior to her sophomore season and she made an immediate impact with the Quakers.

In swimming, she won the Section VI races in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle and as a member of the 400 free relay team. The relay team’s time, established during the 1977-78 season, set a state record that stood for four years. As a result, she was named MVP of the sectional meet.

Away from the pool, Deb was team captain and first baseman for the softball team, where she was the team MVP for a squad that advanced to the 1978 Sectional Championship game. She also competed in track, running the 220 and 440 and qualifying for the ECIC and Sectional meets. In addition, she was a guard on the basketball team. Deb was inducted into the Orchard Park Hall of Fame in 1999.

After high school, Deb competed for the Bowling Green swim team where she received a partial scholarship to compete for the NCAA Division I Falcons. She was part of the Mid-American Conference champion 200-medley relay team and qualified for nationals in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, as well as the 200-medley relay. She earned All-American honors that year and was All-MAC in 1981.

Dourlain then transferred to R.I.T., where she set seven school records and was a six-time NYSWCAA champion. As a member of the Tigers swim team, she received 10 All-American honors and also hit .350 for the RIT softball team. She was inducted into the RIT Hall of Fame in 1988.

Not content to be away from sports competition after college, Deb became a softball umpire where she has been active since 1999. She was elected Vice President of the WNY Umpires Association in 2019 and is only the second woman to hold an elected position with that group. She also umpires baseball in addition to her softball assignments.

Currently the basketball coach at Hutch Tech, Deb has been a certified swim official since 2000.

The biographies contained on this website were written at the time of the honoree's induction into the Hall of Fame. No attempt has been made to update these narratives to reflect more recent events, activities, or statistics.