Aquinas College

Kristy started Aquinas College's first Men's & Women's Swim Team in February of 2021 as an officially recognized NAIA team -- the first and only NAIA team in the state of Michigan. She secured the East Grand Rapids High School facility (Butch Briggs Natatorium) as their home pool less than 1 mile from Aquinas' campus and built the co-ed roster to 40 athletes in one year. The Saints joined the KCAC conference for the 2022-23 season and added diving, finishing the season strong and sending their first athletes to the national meet! "I am honored and thrilled to be the inaugural head coach of the Aquinas College men's and women's swim teams. Coaching is my God-given vocation and building a positive and dynamic team culture is one of my top priorities. I believe that the pool is an extension of the classroom. What we are able to accomplish as a team will mold my future student-athletes into people of character, integrity, and lights to their community both here at Aquinas and beyond. I can't wait to lead the Saints to an exciting and competitive future!" While serving as an assistant coach at Case Western Reserve from 2019-21, Kinzer coached both Spartans swim teams and helped CWRU tally strong finishes at the 2019-02 UAA Championships. Five Spartan women advanced to the 2020 NCAA Championships and earned All-American and Academic All-American honors. Case Western Reserve's men broke five new school records and the women set three program records, while the women also posted the 10th-highest team GPA (3.63) among all NCAA Division III schools. Prior to her tenure at Case Western Reserve, Kinzer spent two years (2017-2018) as the head coach at Mattawan High School for the girls' swimming and diving team while earning a Master's in Exercise Physiology and interning with Western Michigan University's strength and conditioning program for the Olympic sports. Kristy served as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Calvin University, for 2 years and helped the Knights send their largest national's team in program history. Kristy swam collegiately at Calvin and received NCAA Division III All-America honors in the 2012-13 season after earning Honorable Mention All-America accolades in 2009-10. She also was an Academic All-American at Calvin before returning a few seasons later to serve as an assistant coach with Calvin's men's and women's swimming and diving teams. During her time on the Calvin staff, both Knights teams captured MIAA championships in 2016 and the women repeated as conference champions in 2017.

Tylor Fick was brought on to the Aquinas Swim & Dive coaching staff in the spring of 2022 just after it was announced a dive program was coming to AQ as the first dive coach in Aquinas history. Currently, Fick coaches the East Grand Rapids High School girls and boys swim & dive teams in addition to being the program director and head coach of Spartan Diving Club. In his coaching career, he has been named MHSAA High School Diving Coach of the Year 10 times. In 2021, Fick was honored by his peers by receiving the Bruce Harlan Award, which is the highest award given by MISCA for continued leadership, contributions, and service to Michigan High School diving. To be considered for this award, a person must have coached interscholastic diving for at least five years in Michigan with above average success, and have demonstrated leadership at the local, state, and national levels. Hailing from Bay City, Michigan, Fick is well known for his personal and professional accomplishments throughout the state of Michigan along with his passion for the sport. Prior to getting into coaching, Fick competed at Michigan State on its swimming and diving team, which is also where he found a love for coaching by working the MSU diving summer camps. In high school, Fick was a Michigan State Champion and a three-time All-American in diving, in addition to being team captain. He began his began his diving career at eight years old and growing up he qualified for and made finals in every age group at the USA Diving National Championships. Fick earned his bachelors in communication at Michigan State.