Texas Ex Jim Henry named Women's Swimming and Diving assistant coach
AUSTIN, Texas -- University of Texas women's swimming and diving head coach Kim Brackin announced Tuesday that Jim Henry, current men's and women's head swimming coach at the University of Denver, has been named Longhorns women's swimming assistant coach. Henry, a former Texas swimming captain and All-American, returns to his alma mater after leading the Denver swimming programs the last three years. He led Denver to back-to-back runnerup honors at the Sun Belt Conference Championships in 2005 and 2006 and was named Sun Belt Female Head Coach of the Year in 2005 and Male Head Coach of the Year in 2006. He has coached two Pioneers to Sun Belt Swimmer of the Year honors. During his coaching tenure at Denver, the Pioneers set 66 school records and had 16 qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. Both the Denver men's and women's teams registered team grade-point averages which ranked among the nation's top 10 swimming programs in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Henry was part of three NCAA National Championships at Texas as he swam for current UT mentor and Olympic coach Eddie Reese from 1987-90. He was a team captain and All-American in the 400 individual medley his senior year. The Longhorns won the Southwest Conference Championship in each of Henry's four years and were NCAA champions in 1988, 1989 and 1990. A nine-time SWC finalist, Henry also was a U.S. Olympic Trials participant in 1988. He was a three-year recipient of UT's Bob Cone Spirit Award from 1988-90. Henry received his bachelor's degree in 1990 in speech communications and was on the Academic Honor roll at UT. "I believe Jim Henry is a perfect fit for our program," noted Brackin, who was named UT's women's head swimming and diving coach on April 20. "He is dedicated, enthusiastic and loyal to The University, and has a great desire to help our women's team reach the heights of national prominence again, just as it did when he was an undergraduate here. The UT men's and women's swim program both earned NCAA titles in 1988 and 1990 while he swam for Eddie Reese. Jim clearly remembers that time and the excellence in the swim program. Hearing his enthusiasm for what this program can be, and based on his successes as a coach, I knew he was the right match for our position. He is willing and excited to work together with me to build something very special here at Texas." "Jim grew up in the state of Texas, which is another huge bonus," Brackin said. "He is well-connected to the club coaches and high school coaches. His grassroots connections will serve us well in recruiting the Texas student-athletes, which is a huge priority. While at SMU, he was instrumental in helping the men's program develop into a nationally-ranked power. The Denver swimming programs also reached some incredible goals under Jim's direction. He has the desire, commitment and experience to coach at the elite level and help develop national championship-caliber athletes." Prior to his three-year tenure at Denver, Henry served as assistant men's swimming coach and recruiting coordinator at SMU from 1999-2003 where he coached 12 NCAA All-Americans and helped lead SMU to the Western Athletic Conference title each year. Henry enjoyed his finest season at SMU in 2001-02, where he helped the Mustangs finish 12th at the NCAA Championships. Prior to getting into collegiate coaching, Henry was the aquatics director and head swimming coach for the Allen (Texas) Independent School District in 1998-99 and the aquatics director and head swim coach at The Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ (from 1995-98). Peddie finished fourth at the 1997 U.S. Nationals and was second at the U.S. Open that year. Henry led Peddie to the 1998 Junior National Team Championship and developed 31 high school All-Americans as well.
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