Grand Canyon University Names Brad Hering First Swimming Coach

PHOENIX, Arizona, July 6. GRAND Canyon University, which added men's and women's swimming at the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division II level in February, has named Brad Hering as its initial head coach.

Hering, a 1985 Arizona State graduate and standout swimmer, entered Grand Canyon with 16 years of experience coaching Olympic-caliber swimmers.

"It's my sweet spot," Hering said of taking over GCU's program. "That's exactly where I belong. I'm elated."

Hering spent six years coaching NCAA Division I collegiate swimmers from Arizona. He was the Brazilian National Team and Olympic Team head coach. Hering also coached at Northern Arizona University from 1990-93.

"The one component that we were missing, it was all about swimming," Randy Bellah, the swim program director, said. "Brad just brings that."

Hering, who graduated from swimming-rich Brophy College Preparatory, was a four-time All-American at Arizona State. He won four USA Swimming Master's Division national championships. Hering was a member of six United States national swim teams. He was also a member of the 1981 Mission Viejo Nadadores American record-setting 200-yard freestyle relay team.

Hering also served as the Desert Thunder Aquatic Club swim coach from 1993-2003. Hering left his role as pastor of Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Washington, where he served from 2003-07, to help build a program at GCU.

"He's really personable," Bellah said. "When the kids leave this university after four years, he will be somebody that they stay in touch with. He brings that component, and is very relational. He feels called to do this. When this opportunity came, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He feels there're opportunities to be more than just a coach. He can be a mentor. It was probably the only job he would've taken to quit what he was doing up there (in Washington)."

Hering inherits a new program that has already established a solid women's recruiting class and gave him a nice start to the men's team with Bellah's efforts prior to Hering's hire.

"It feels like it's something customized for me from Heaven," Hering said. "I'm really excited to be a part Grand Canyon University. I'm looking forward to building a program."

"I feel this is not a swimming program just for the sake of having a swimming program, and I feel happy with the direction we've come so far," Bellah said. "I want this to be a first-choice program for high school students, and the direction we're heading, I feel like that's where we are."

Special thanks to Grand Canyon University for contributing this report.

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