Born in Cleveland, Ohio on March 29, 1957, Doug Shilliday spent his formative years in the Cleveland area, and moved to Poland, Ohio in September of 1970.
He started to swim competitively in 1965 after suffering an accident that cut off his heal. He was confined to crutches for a three month period, was ordered to swim as part of his rehabilitation. What started out as a remedy for an ailment quickly turned into a hobby and that turned into a hobby and that turned into a burning desire to compete, which has earned him a place in the eighth class of Hall of Fame inductees at the Youngstown State University.
His driving influence from his youth until his collegiate days was his dad, John, and one of their biggest moments together came on February 24, 1976, when he signed to attend Youngstown State University and swim for head Coach Daniel "Tucker" DiEdwardo. He received a full scholarship to attend YSU, and the following year became the first athlete to receive the Ray T. Davis scholarship as one of the top athletes in Mahoning County.
A four-year letter winner for the Penguins from 1976-77 to 1979-80, as far as can be ascertained from past records in all sports (male and female), he is the only four-time-All-American at YSU, accomplishing that feat once every year that he was a member of the penguins swim team. It's a record that will never be broken at Youngstown State.
He was a member of the Penn-Ohio Conference team in both 1977-78 and 1979-80, was a member of the Mid-Continent Conference First-team in 1979-80, and recorded All-American honors in the 200-Butterfly in 1977 (12th place), 1978 (2nd place), 1979 (10th place) and 1980 (3rd place).
Although the swimming program disbanded after the 1983-84 season, he still holds the school record in the 100-yard butterfly (52.9), 200-yard butterfly (154.1), 400-yard backstroke relay (with Paul Lonneman, Larry Smith and Tom Bosse) while a side not all the aforementioned came in 1979 when the mark in the 100 continuous mile relay. The team was time in 23 hours, 57 minutes and 42.3 seconds (the old mark was 25 hours, 55 minutes and 8.2 seconds).
He currently works as the manager of the Olive Garden in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, living in Akron, Ohio.
