BEMIDJI 鈥� For the better part of 50 years, former North Dakota swimming head coach Mike Stromberg has spent his summers inside local swimming pools in the upper Midwest.
The Stromberg name makes it easy for word of mouth to advertise his offseason programs.
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The Havre, Montana, native took the UND collegiate swimming programs to new heights, turning postseason inexperience into a Division-II juggernaut. Stromberg won a combined 34 North Central Conference titles. He led the formerly-named Sioux to a pair of women鈥檚 national runner-up finishes and was among the nation's top six teams in each of his final 17 seasons. He also notched a men鈥檚 third-place finish nationally in 2011 and had 13 top-10 campaigns.
Stromberg boosted North Dakota鈥檚 numbers from seven to 57 before stepping down in 2001. Now, in his retirement years, he鈥檚 working his magic in Bemidji.
From June 8-11, Stromberg hosted the latest iteration of his camp for 55 swimmers. While most were from Bemidji and other prominent swimming areas in northern Minnesota, other campers traveled from neighboring states, as well as Colorado Springs.
Stromberg鈥檚 camps come with an emphasis on inclusion.
鈥淓arlier on, the camps were a lot of swimming and not much teaching,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had to learn how to teach and how to get kids engaged. When I started, I would tell the kids to do stuff, and only some of them got better. Now, I want to make sure everybody here gets better.鈥�
Stromberg hosted his first camp in 1978 in Minot, North Dakota. However, it wasn鈥檛 until after his time at UND concluded that his camps took off.
Over the last 20-plus years, Stromberg has brought in accomplished swimming figures to assist him at his camps. His connections range from Olympic-level swimmers and former national champions to revered coaches.
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For kids like BHS rising senior Daniel Scherling, who is coming off of his first Class AA state berth, sharing the pool with accomplished peers and coaches sets the bar high.
鈥淭hese coaches have been doing this for a long time,鈥� Scherling said. 鈥淛ust to have multiple eyes watching you who have a lot of experience in swimming, to have them watch you and know what you鈥檙e doing wrong 鈥� and know how to fix it 鈥� it鈥檚 just a great feeling.
鈥淵ou want to listen to everything they say because they have so much experience. If they tell you to try something, you do it because it鈥檚 going to make you a better swimmer.鈥�
Keeping it local
Stromberg鈥檚 relationships with the BHS swimmers extend beyond his half-week camp.
In 2021, Stromberg sold his club swimming team in Colorado and retired in Bemidji, where his wife was raised. In 2022, he began volunteer coaching the Lumberjacks.
His partnership with BHS has come with advanced technology. During practice, each swimmer wears a waterproof headset. Stromberg is in their ears while they鈥檙e in the pool.
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The headsets are also used in his camps.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 tell them what to do; we just give them ideas,鈥� Stromberg said. 鈥淭he three key words are explore, experience and evaluate. What worked for you and what didn鈥檛 work for you?
鈥淓verybody鈥檚 different, and everyone has a different body to swim with. If I try to teach the whole pool to do the same thing in the same way, only 40-50% of the kids can do it, while the other 60% flounder.鈥�
Scherling has taken a head-first approach to Stromberg鈥檚 three-word motto.
鈥淓veryone has their own swimming style,鈥� Scherling said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in season, you鈥檙e around the same people every day. You kind of get used to it. When you come here and see a bunch of new swimmers, a lot of them are better and faster than me, so I get to watch how they do starts, stroke work and everything. I get to watch these coaches give them tips, and I can take them for myself.鈥�
More importantly for the local attendees, Stromberg鈥檚 camp offers them something they haven鈥檛 had: availability.
Stromberg鈥檚 summer sessions are the first of their kind in Bemidji. While the Bemidji Area Super Swimmers have an affluent club organization, high school swimmers have had to travel beyond northern Minnesota for summer training.
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鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot cheaper for us and our families to do camps in Bemidji than anywhere else,鈥� Scherling said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of Bemidji people here, too, and that鈥檚 good for all of us. Camps like this give us experience that we otherwise wouldn鈥檛 get because it鈥檚 so much more convenient.鈥�
Both the BHS boys and girls programs have seen a participation spike in recent years. Local camps not only give area athletes more exposure to outside coaching; they also provide structure to a budding sport.
鈥淕etting camps like this in Bemidji is huge,鈥� Scherling said. 鈥淲e need to increase the popularity of swimming here. I think we can show people how cool swimming is. It鈥檚 not the most popular sport. It鈥檚 not football, hockey, basketball 鈥� sports like that. It鈥檚 a smaller sport, and that鈥檚 OK, but we can always use more numbers on the swim team. Camps like this help with that.鈥�
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