BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb head men's and women's swimming coach Mike Blum has announced the hiring of Kristina Henkel and Travis Kiser as assistant coaches in advance of the 2019-20 season.
 
Henkel has spent the previous two seasons as the head women's swimming coach at nearby Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C.  There, she led the program to its highest Conference Carolinas finish each season and set four new school records along with four conference records.
 
Prior to becoming the head coach, Henkel was the volunteer assistant coach at Converse College for the 2016-17 season, and she also spent part of 2016 as an assistant coach for the Performance Aquatics Swim Team in Boca Raton, Fla.
 
Henkel is no stranger to Gardner-Webb, as she was a member of the women's swimming team from 2012-16, earning All-Academic honors each year.
 
Kiser joins the Runnin' Bulldogs after spending the previous three seasons as a volunteer assistant coach at Texas A&M.  There, Kiser helped train athletes to compete in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championships, the NCAA Championships, World Championship meets, the World University Games, and the Olympic Trials.  He also assisted the Aggies in breaking 85 percent of the school records during his tenure and trained the program's first SEC men's swimming champion.
 
Kiser has also been the assistant coach and head dryland coach for the Aggie Swim Club over the past three years, training multiple Texas High School state champions as well as a handful of NCAA Division I swimmers.