Ableman, the head diving coach at the University of Miami since 1989, has won the NCAA’s Diving Coach of the Year nine times, including a stretch from 1995-2000 when he won the award each year. At Miami he has coached 24 national champions, 26 individual All-Americans, at least one every year he’s been at UM, and 11 Olympians representing seven countries.
Ableman coached 12 years in a row (1991-2002) with at least one national champion in each of those years. In 1995, Ableman coached five All-Americans, an NCAA first. He was also selected as a member of the U.S. Olympic Diving Team coaching staff for the last three Olympics (1996, 2000 and 2004). In 2008 he was the head diving coach for the Republic of South Africa in Beijing. In 2002, Ableman was awarded U.S. Diving’s highest honor, the Phil Boggs Award.
A four-time All-American diver at the University of Iowa, he won the 1981 NCAA 1-meter springboard championship and was named to the 1980 Olympic team which did not compete due to the boycott of the Moscow games. He is a member of the University of Iowa and University of Miami Athletic Halls of Fame.