Head Coach Bill Henderson begins his eighth season at UWRF. The California native came to River Falls from the Golden State in August of 2002 and immediately set out to get the team’s numbers up and solidify the program. The women’s team had shrunk to a dozen members and the men’s team was down to just five when Henderson came in for the 2002-03 season. Henderson is anticipating the largest team in school history this coming season with 30 women and 20 men coming in for the first team meeting.

Before arriving in River Falls Henderson served as assistant coach at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Prior to that, he was head coach of swimming and diving at Foothill College and led the Owl women to their first conference title in over 10 years. He was also the Owl’s head coach of women’s water polo team and brought in two league crowns during his tenure.

Henderson’s early coaching career was spent in the year-round ranks coaching the Sierra Marlins Swim Club, a large club located just outside of Sacramento, Calif. During his time with the Marlins he coached 30 age group national top 16 swimmers and his high school age swimmers garnered a dozen high school All-American mentions. Henderson was named head coach for the Sierra Nevada LSC Western Zone team three times.

As a swimmer, Henderson was a national age-group champion and a high school, junior college and NCAA Division II All-American. He was captain of the Cal. State Sacramento swim team and holds the CSUS school records in the 1650 and 1000 yard freestyle events.

One particular aspect that Henderson is particularly proud of is the Falcon Invite, the mid-season invitational that the team hosts at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center each season. The Invite hosts at least 15 teams each year and is the largest collegiate swimming invitational in the nation. The Falcons will also host the WIAC swimming and diving championships in February of 2010.

Bill Henderson