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Jim Bolster, Head Coach

In 14 years as head coach of the Columbia men's swimming team, Jim Bolster has forged a successful program which has captured one Eastern Swimming League title and one second place, while totally rewriting the Columbia record book. The Lions won the 1988-89 EISL championship (with Princeton) with an 8-1 record, and were second to the Tigers in 1989-90, posting a 7-2 mark.

More than 30 school records have been set since Bolster came to Columbia, 20 of them in the 1990's alone. His teams set a similar pattern of success at Ohio's Denison University during his five years as head coach, Denison finished in the nation's Top 10 two consecutive years, placed seventh in the 1984 NCAA Division III Championships, and virtually rewrote the Big Red record book.

A native of Princeton, New Jersey, Bolster was one of the finest athletes in Denison history. Twice named the school's Most Valuable Swimmer, he won the 1976 NCAA Championships in the 200 butterfly, five conference titles in the 100 and 200 butterfly, and was a six-time NCAA Division III All-America. He also starred in soccer and lacrosse, earning four letters in each of the three sports. He was graduated in 1977.

Selected in the first round of the 1977 North American Soccer League draft by the Connecticut Bicentennials, he played two years with Connecticut and Washington. He then utilized an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship and earned a master's degree from the University of Michigan.

Bolster thrives on athletic competition. He has developed into a world-class amateur triathlete, twice placing fifth in his age group in world championship races, and completing the Ironman distance race in Martha's Vineyard in the fall of 1994. Moving on from triathlons, Bolster has begun competitive cycle racing he took ninth last summer in the prestigious Tour of Killington, a five-day stage bicycle race. In the summer of 1994, he summitted Washington's imposing Mt. Ranier.

Bolster lives in Manhattan with his wife, Sharon Rose Kelly, an exercise physiologist. Members of large families he is one of 14 children, she is one of 12 they gave birth to Jake Thomas Bolster on April 27, 1997 and are expecting their second child in November.

Mail Jim: jbb2@columbia.edu

Mark joins the Columbia staff after just recently retiring from a highly decorated competitive swimming career that spanned over 20 years. He concluded his career after participating as a member of the 1996 Olympic team in Atlanta where he received a gold medal in the 400 medley relay. Mark's butterfly split was the second fastest split in the history of swimming at that time. The relay broke the world record which currently stands untouched. He was a member of the United States National Swim Team from 1989 to 1997, representing the United States over 15 times in international competition.

Henderson, a native of Fort Washington, Maryland, graduated from the University of California-Berkeley in 1991 with a degree in psychology. While at Berkeley he was a 20-time All-America in swimming. He also captained the Bear's squad in 1990 and 1991.

In 1994 Mark became one of the first members of the United States National Resident Swim Team, which trained at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Mark currently resides in Manhattan with his wife, Summer Sanders, a co-host of "NBA Inside Stuff" and host of Nickelodeon's "Figure It Out". Mark and Summer live with their two dogs-Smalls and Tahoe. Mark is currently applying to business school.

Gordon Spencer, in his 16th year at Columbia, has built the Lions' diving program into one of the most respected in the East, most recently with Jodi Norton and 1995 Eastern placewinner Danette Daniels.

While his Columbia divers have been a deciding factor in many a Lion victory, Spencer has also made a name for himself away from Morningside Heights. In 1991 he was named the Junior Olympic Zone A Coach of the Year.

Spencer came to Columbia from Kent State University, where he built a diving power in just two years. A native of Canton, Ohio, he was a three-time state finalist at Canton McKinley High School and attended Indiana University, where he competed under the legendary Hobie Billingsley, reaching the national championships. He later coached at Billingsley's diving school.

After his 1977 graduation, Spencer became an assistant diving coach at two Miami high schools. He returned to Kent State in 1981 and earned a master's degree in athletic administration.

Spencer is very active in the diving scene outside of Columbia. He has served as a judge for the Senior National Diving Championships. He coaches an elite U.S. Diving club comprised of some of the best Junior Olympic divers in the nation. The program consistently produces East Coast champions and national age group finalists on both platform and springboard. In fact, his top men's diver this season, Daniel Brown, dived for Spencer's famed Morningside Muggers.

Spencer, his wife Bertica and their 12-year old daughter Caitlin reside on Morningside Heights.