Mike Stromberg, a native of Havre, Mont., spent 21 seasons as the UND men's and women's swimming coach, and built a program that had never before qualified for a national meet into an NCAA Division II power.
In Stromberg's first season (1980-81), the program consisted of seven swimmers (three women, four men), and in Stromberg's final season as head coach (2000-01), there were 57 swimmers (30 women, 27 men) in the program.
After Stromberg took over in 1980, it didn't take long for his teams to achieve success. Under Stromberg, the women's team won 20 consecutive North Central Conference titles, and the men's team won conference titles in 14 of his last 16 years as head coach.
The Sioux women's team had two NCAA Division II national runner-up finishes and finished among the nation's top six teams in each of his final 17 seasons. He coached the men's team to a third-place national finish in 2011, and overall the team had 13 top 10 national finishes under Stromberg.
Academically, his teams were No. 1 in producing CSCA Academic All-Americans in the NCC. In fact, in 1999, his women's team was ranked No. 3 academically among all three NCAA divisions.
During his coaching career, Stromberg was the recipient of numerous awards, including two NCAA Division II women's coach of the year honors, six NCC men's coach of the year awards and four NCC men's coach of the year awards. In 1996 Stromberg was selected by the American Swim Coaches Association as one of the top 100 swim coaches in the United States from all levels of swimming.
In addition, Stromberg was instrumental in establishing and increasing fundraising programs, raising a large percentage of the swimming team's operational budget.
Stromberg stepped down from his role as UND's head swimming coach to become the facilities manager at the 450,000-square foot Ralph Engelstad Arena from 2001-05. He played a key role in helping the arena open, and was event manager for all major events held at the arena. In 2004 he helped design and then managed the arena's new addition, the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
An active community and national leader, Stromberg has led efforts to bring many of the largest sporting events in local history to Grand Forks, N.D. Included were numerous national swimming and diving events, including the 1999 USOC staging of the Pan American team hosted in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Nationally, Stromberg was deeply involved with United States Swimming, chairing the USA Swim Camps, Technical Education Committee, Safety Education Committee and is one of the founders of the SwimAmerican program. In 2004, he was the recipient of the USA Swimming National Adolph Kiefer Safety Commendation.
Stromberg has been active in many community activities and won a multitude of community awards for his service to the University of North Dakota and community of Grand Forks.
Stromberg earned both his bachelor's (1977) and master's (1982) degrees from UND. He and his wife Sue have three children: David, Brian and Megan.
