Written by Monica VanDerWeide, ’95
Head Swimming Coach Kurt Kirner likes to tell his students a tale of two fast food restaurants in his hometown of Sauk City, Wisconsin. Both opened about the same time, and while one restaurant put quantity first, which led to sloppiness, the other focused on quality, taking the time to get the orders right and know its customers. Within a few years, the first restaurant failed while the second restaurant became a successful national franchise. “That’s the kind of team you want to be on,” he said, “one focused on quality and doing things the right way.”
The Chargers Swimming program has certainly been doing things the right way during Kirner’s nearly two decades at the helm of the program, consistently finishing as a team near the top of the G-MAC—including a “title wave” of conference championships from 2020-2022—and garnering numerous individual honors as well. It’s a combination of recruiting swimmers who embody strong character and a growth mindset, along with Kirner’s passion for teaching and getting things right.
“A lot of swimmers come in with technical flaws and don’t realize they are doing things ineffectively even though they’ve experienced success on a high school level,” he said. “So, we break down their strokes and analyze what they’re doing. I have them do it slowly to build new motor patterns. Sometimes, it helps to have them try their strokes the wrong way so they get the feeling of what they’re doing wrong.
“I’m looking for hard workers who aren’t afraid to fail,” he continued. “It’s not about perfection; it’s about striving for excellence.”
Joining a Familiar Face at Hillsdale
Kirner began his coaching career at the age of 15, volunteering his time coaching for a summer club working with 10-and-under kids. His paid position was as a lifeguard, but he eventually took over the head coaching position there after just a few seasons. “I developed a passion for coaching then, but I never thought it was what I wanted to do for a living,” he said. “I consider myself a teacher first.”
Kirner earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and his master’s degree from New Mexico State University. He began work on a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, intending to become a college professor. He competed on the swim team as an undergrad and continued to coach club teams on the side during his schooling. However, as he was working on his Ph.D., he began to get low on money. “I loved coaching and realized I could make a living doing it,” he said. In 1991, he got a coaching job at Division III Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, still intending to complete his Ph.D. But when his Ph.D. advisor left the university for the private sector, he decided once and for all to abandon that “pipe dream” and continue doing what he loved.
Kirner spent 16 successful years at Lawrence coaching both men’s and women’s swimming, not intending to leave his home state. But in 2007, one of his coaching colleagues, fellow Wisconsin native John Tharp, left Lawrence to take the men’s basketball head coach position at Hillsdale.
“John called me a few months after he had started at Hillsdale,” Kirner recalled. “He asked me if I was interested in coming to coach at Hillsdale. He thought it would be a good fit.”
When Kirner visited Hillsdale, he liked what he saw. “The school’s mission aligned with my beliefs, and I liked the athletes,” he said. He was hired and took the reins of the swimming program beginning with the 2007-2008 season.
He inherited a young team with no seniors. “They were just looking for leadership,” he said. “They were looking to be challenged but in a way that was more autonomous.”
A Wave of Accolades
Kirner’s coaching philosophy is guided by three words: Deliberate. Intentional. Purposeful. It all goes back to breaking down each stroke, analyzing the technique, and doing it slowly in order to master the movement. His coaching began to bear fruit in his second year at the helm; in 2009, four Chargers competed at the Division II national meet. In 2011, Linda Okonkowski, ’12, received the first All-American honors for a Hillsdale swimmer in nine years. Since then, honors have continued to roll in, with the Chargers earning multiple All-American honors, G-MAC Freshman of the Year honors, and G-MAC Coach of the Year honors four times for Kirner.
Equally impressive for the program is an honor given outside of the pool. For 18 consecutive seasons, the swimming team has been named a Scholar All-American Team by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America. This honor is given to teams that achieve a 3.0 or higher grade-point average.
“I believe the academic success of the team has to do with self-motivation and autonomy,” Kirner said. “Most collegiate swimmers swim six days a week and more than 10 months a year. It takes incredible commitment and drive to be a swimmer. It wires your brain a certain way, and that drive carries over into the classroom.”
Kirner continues to spend a lot of time in the classroom, teaching a full slate of Sport Studies classes. Years ago, he developed the Physical Wellness Dynamics course that is part of Hillsdale’s core curriculum. He has also taught kinesiology, methods of physical education, and sport psychology courses, as well as some independent studies. His love of reading fuels his teaching; in his spare time, he reads everything from historical fiction to sports psychology. Teaching and coaching don’t stop for him during the summers, either. He’s the longest-standing Nike swim camp director currently holding these camps at Hillsdale. Additionally, he heads up the technique track at University of Michigan swim camps each summer.
With retirement just a few years away, Kirner reflected on Hillsdale’s swimming program. “Character is the most important trait I look for in recruiting,” he said. “We recently exemplified that at a meet. A competitor from a rival team had broken her goggles. One of our Charger women happened to be there and loaned her a pair of her goggles for that event. Then she cheered on that rival swimmer in that event. That’s the type of role model we wish to embody. I want our competitors to think, ‘I wish I were a part of that team’ because of the behaviors they exemplify.”
Kirner may not have earned the Ph.D. he sought in his younger days, but he has earned a lifetime of fulfillment in doing a job he loves with students and colleagues he enjoys and respects. “Each job I’ve had has lifted me to another level and challenged me,” he said. “God has really blessed me here.”
Monica VanDerWeide is Director of Marketing Content for Hillsdale College. She graduated from Hillsdale in 1995 with a degree in English and German.
Reposted from the fall 2025 issue of Arete.
