Get to Know New HSE Swim and Dive Coach Christian Hanselmann
Photographer / Robby Berry
Christian Hanselmann is the youngest of three children. Each of the siblings started swimming at a young age.
“Growing up in Fortville, I was going to swim meets at a young age,” Hanselmann says. “When I was in high school, I had the idea to be a history teacher and swim coach. As I went through high school and college, what I wanted to do for a living changed, but the one constant was that I always wanted to be a swim coach one day.”
Now, Hanselmann is fulfilling that lifelong dream of becoming a head swim coach. Hanselmann replaces longtime Head Coach Andy Pedersen at Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) High School. He will coach the HSE boys and girls swim and dive teams. Hanselmann has a long-standing relationship with Pedersen.
“Andy Pedersen gave me my first coaching job,” Hanselmann says. “After my freshman year of college, I was getting ready to go on my mission trip through my church. I worked at HSE for a couple of months leading up to that mission, and then every summer after that, after I got back from my mission.”
Hanselmann attended Brigham Young University, where he also swam. Following his time at that school, he completed his master’s degree in sports psychology in 2015 at the University of Tennessee.
“My first full-time coaching job was at Eastern Michigan University from 2016 to 2017,” Hanselmann says. “I coached there for a year, and then I got a job back at the University of Tennessee where I was a coach for two years.”
Hanselmann is excited to take on the role of head coach of a well-known swimming program.
“I’m excited for the chance to work with these kids,” Hanselmann says. “I think they consistently perform at a very high level in the water and also out of the water. We’ve got a large alumni network of very successful people, and it’s exciting to be a part of continuing the development of high achievers both in and out of the water.”
His goals for the program include growing the size of the club.
“I want this club to grow in size and performance,” Hanselmann says. “I want people to look at the Hamilton Southeastern swim club and know this is a highly competitive club. However, I don’t want to sacrifice any of the community opportunities that we have at the same time. We have a growing lessons program. We have a master swim team for local adults to swim on. I want to make sure that we are providing a place for people. Part of our mission is to provide the opportunity for everyone to reach their athletic potential, and I think that we do a good job of that so far. I want to keep pushing that forward.”
His previous experience working at HSE brings back memories for Hanselmann.
“When I was here the pool was smaller, but when I walked in recently, everything was very familiar for me,” Hanselmann says. “I knew all the staff before I came here, so it was cool to have that familiarity with everything already.”
