Sangamon Sun

Illinois College has announced the appointment of Lance Bergmann as the new assistant coach for its men's and women's swimming teams. Bergmann brings experience from his previous role as a volunteer coach at Eastern Illinois University, where he contributed to practice planning, remote video review, and daily operations since fall 2022.

Before joining Eastern Illinois University, Bergmann was involved with the Bloomington-Normal YMCA Waves swim club during the 2020-2021 season. There, he restructured the dryland program to emphasize body awareness and incorporated yoga to enhance muscle flexibility.

Expressing gratitude for his new position, Bergmann stated, "I want to thank Coach Sykes and Illinois College for the opportunity. I am excited to be a part of a program that pushes student-athletes both in and out of the pool."

Bergmann's collegiate swimming career began at the University of Illinois Chicago for one season in 2013-2014. He later transferred to Eastern Michigan University, completing his NCAA eligibility in 2018 and earning a degree in secondary education.

Head Swim Coach Chris Sykes shared his enthusiasm about Bergmann's addition to the team: "I am very excited to have Coach Lance Bergmann join the Illinois College Swim Team. He is bringing in a wealth of experience as a former swimmer and he also exhibits a lot of passion for the sport of swimming that I know our current and future swimmers will relate to. I like his philosophy of helping individuals learn to succeed in and out of the water as well as striving to follow through with the continued success of the team. I am looking forward to coaching alongside Lance here at Illinois College."