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Men's Swimming and Diving 7/23/2025 10:30:00 AM Braden Golisek - Assistant Director of Sports Information

NMU Swim and Dive Promotes Kelly, Hires Bergmann

Chris Kelly earns a promotion, Lance Bergmann joins from Illinois College

MARQUETTE, Mich. - Head coach Heidi Voigt and the NMU swim and dive team are proud to announce the promotion of Christopher Kelly and the hiring of Lance Bergmann ahead of the 2025/26 season.

Christopher Kelly, who joined the Wildcats as the diving coach in August of 2022, earns a promotion after a successful last few seasons overseeing the diving team for the Wildcats. In his tenure, Kelly has overseen a handful of All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, Scholar All-Americans, Academic All-District honorees, NCAA tournament participants, GLIAC Championship medalists, GLIAC Diver of the Year, and more.

"I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to continue working with the amazing swim and dive community at NMU," adds Kelly. "In the next year I hope to build the diving community in the upper peninsula and push NMU Diving to the top of division II."

Kelly dove for Grand Valley State from 2017-2021 and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Biology. A well-decorated collegiate athlete, Kelly won GLIAC Diver of the Year three years in a row (2019-2021), and made multiple appearances at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, where he earned First and Second-Team All-America Honors.

"I am tremendously excited to have Coach Kelly advance as our Assistant Men's and Women's Diving Coach," adds head coach Voigt. "He is a great fit for our team and Northern Michigan University. His commitment and passion for our students and the sport of diving is infectious. I am looking forward to his continued success."

Lance Bergmann joins the Wildcats from Illinois College, where he served as an assistant coach beginning in the 2023/24 season.

"I'm incredibly thankful to Coach Voigt for giving me an opportunity to work with such a successful program," adds Bergmann. "I'm excited to get started and continue a culture of excellence here at Northern Michigan University!"

Bergmann joined Illinois College after serving as a volunteer coach at Eastern Illinois University, where he helped the coaching staff with practice plans, remote video review, and other daily operations. Prior to EIU, Bergmann taught full time while also coaching with the Bloomington-Normal YMCA Waves swim club, where he helped restructure the dryland program to focus on body awareness, as well as using yoga to lengthen and loosen important muscle groups.

"I am looking forward to Lance's energy and enthusiasm for swimming on deck this fall!" says Voigt. "He will make a great addition to our coaching team."

The Wildcats open the season with the annual Green vs Gold intra-squad scrimmage on September 19 and 20 before the regular season opens, taking on St. Cloud and Davenport at home on October 3 and 4.

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