Paul Dessen

Paul Dessen was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington and graduated from Pacific Lutheran University where he lettered three years in baseball and one in swimming, placing in the top six in the Northwest Conference one meter diving championships. This is where he developed his love for swimming which continues to this day. Upon graduation from PLU, he entered the teaching ranks and began his career in education and coaching.

While at Newport High School, he coached swimming for two years. His girls’ team won the “unofficial” 2A state championship (there was only one sanctioned OSAA meet at that time) and also had the opportunity to coach his only All-American swimmer/diver, Dede Cherzan.

Upon arriving at the hallowed halls of Astoria High School as an English teacher and coach in 1980, “Coach D”, as he was affectionally known by his athletes, began his extensive coaching career with the Fishermen. He retired from education in 2000, but continues to assist the Fishermen in any way possible to this day.

Dessen’s coaching career for the Fishermen began as an assistant football coach. He served as an assistant under five different head coaches. During his 19 seasons, he coached in two OSAA playoff games under Robin Andrea. One of these teams went to the semi-finals and the other to the quarter-finals. During the semi-final season, Astoria gave eventual state champions (Seaside) their only loss of the season. Coach D loved those Friday nights under the lights.

During the winter, Coach Dessen served as head swim coach from 1982-1994. As head coach, he developed a legacy of outstanding swim teams based upon large numbers, which was essential for dominance in dual and large meets. He coached four league championship boys teams and in one stretch from 1988-1990, the boy’s teams lost only two meets and won three consecutive league titles.

During this run, the AHS boys established a record the will probably never be equaled by any team in the Cowapa League. In the 1988 and 1989 seasons, the boys captured first place in each event and in 1990, they won 9 of 10 races as they sacrificed a perfect 30 for 30 record so that one of their teammates could try to establish a new school record. They also claimed two district titles and one second place at districts (During this time, there was only one state meet so district meets were considered the 3 A state meets). These teams were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006. Two individuals from this era are also inducted into the Hall of Fame: David Ericksen and Len Chamberlain. As of 2010, they still hold several records.

Baseball was another of Coach D’s loves. He was an assistant coach for the Fishermen under four different head coaches and made two trips to the OSAA playoffs. He had the opportunity to coach two Astoria Hall of Famers (Andy Westerberg and 2010 inductee, David Tarabochia). As a head coach for several years, he coached two all-state players, Jeremy Snow (already in the Hall of Fame) and August Norgaard, both of whom played and starred in the North-South All-Star Series.

Coach Dessen continued to be a volunteer for the Fishermen after his retirement. As a volunteer assistant coach with the swim teams, the AHS swimmers have captured numerous Cowapa League titles as well as five District titles each for the boys and girls teams. In 2002, the boys team brought home a 4^th place trophy from the now “official” OSAA State Championships. Aside from volunteering as an assistant swim coach, Dessen served as the District Swim Meet Director.

As the voice of the Fishermen, he was the P.A. announcer at home basketball games for three years and kept clock and scorebook during the Mike Goin era of Fishermen basketball. Dessen also volunteered to set up John Warren Field for football games and was stats keeper for the Fighting Fishermen football team. He also was a radio “color man” for AHS football and baseball games for three years.