Kelsey Gomberg’s Career Combines Teaching and Her Love of Swimming
Written by Doug Goodnough, ’90
For Kelsey Gomberg, ’10, the literal road to Hillsdale College started at her grandparents’ house.
“My grandparents actually lived on Hillsdale Circle in Boulder, Colorado,” said Gomberg of her grandparents, who were also loyal readers of Imprimis. “There’s a neighborhood where all the streets are named after small colleges.”
So when Gomberg began the college search, Hillsdale was already very familiar.
“I knew I wanted to swim in college,” she said of the process. “I don’t think I knew going in what a cool place it was, so it’s just a blessing that it worked out.”
Current Head Coach Kurt Kirner started at Hillsdale when Gomberg was a sophomore. Ironically, Kirner had recruited Gomberg while coaching at his previous institution, so Gomberg had a familiarity with him. As a member of the Chargers swim team, she said she was proud to help build the foundation on which the current program rests.
“I felt like we were able to start some new traditions,” said Gomberg, who helped organize a Bible study among other lasting traditions.
Gomberg swam the 100- and 200-meter butterfly events and was named a tri-captain during her senior year. She said a time trial event she swam during the conference meet was memorable.
“It wasn’t one of my normal events, but I wanted to supplement because it was the last chance I’d get,” she said. “And it was at the end of the meet, and all the teams stand on the edge (of the pool) and cheer for anyone who’s time trialing. To have everyone cheering you on, even though they don’t know you—it’s pretty exciting.”
She credited Coach Kirner for the continued success of the Hillsdale swim program.
“Coach did a great, great job with the culture,” she said. “He introduced fun training trips and dinners, and things that we would look forward to doing. You get really close with all those people that you work so hard with. They definitely become family.”
Having fun while working hard is a theme that Gomberg has carried into her professional life. For the past two years, she has been a senior training facilitator at the Big Blue Swim School in the Chicago area. Earning her certification as a pool and spa operator, Gomberg said her job is to train general and assistant managers at new franchise locations.
“Those are just some of the safety components of the job,” said Gomberg, who is also a lifeguard instructor through the Red Cross. “The most fun part is still either training people to be teachers or teaching kids in the water.”
She said the most challenging part of her job is training people on very short notice.
“A lot of these franchise schools are in new markets, so we literally take people who have been hired a week ago and take them from zero to hero in three weeks,” Gomberg said.
Gomberg lives near family in the northwest Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake. She enjoys riding her horse and being active in her church, especially in the area of youth ministry.
While at Hillsdale, the integrated science and physical education major was a member of Beta Beta Beta, Kappa Phi Kappa, Athletes in Action, and Circle K. She said having professors like Daniel Coupland made her educational experience at Hillsdale a memorable one.
“It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun,” she said.
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in April 2024