University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Athletics

Since taking over the UW-Stevens Point program in 1997, head coach Al Boelk has led the Pointers to 31 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) titles establishing the program among the best in the nation.

In 2022-23, the men’s swimming & diving program captured its 23rd consecutive conference crown. The title was also the 24th in 26 seasons for UW-Stevens Point, dating back to Boelk's first season of 1997.  During his tenure, he has also guided the women's program to six team titles in the WIAC.

Boelk is a 19-time WIAC Coach of the Year, having earned the honor 14 times for the men, including in 2022-23, and five times for the women.

Boelk has coached two NCAA Division III national champion relays that both set Division III records, while also coaching his brother, Randy, to a national title in the 200 backstroke in 1998. Boelk has coached the Pointer men to seven top-10 national finishes, including a fourth-place performance in 1999. He also guided the women’s team to their three highest-ever national finishes, including an eighth-place finish in 2001 and a 10th-place effort in 2006.

Overall, Boelk has coached 39 men’s All-Americans and 16 honorable mention men’s All-Americans. He has trained 23 women’s All-Americans and 12 honorable mention women’s All-Americans. Boelk has guided 70 All-American men’s swims, including 30 All-American relays, and has coached 28 All-American women’s swims, including 18 All-American relays.
 
Boelk has also trained three swimmers that qualified for the Olympic Trials, the most recent being 2018 graduate Jack Englehardt. Englehardt qualified in the 50-meter freestyle with a lifetime best and USA Olympic Team Trials – Wave 1 time of 23.00.

A native of Embarrass, Minn., Boelk came to UW-Stevens Point from the University of Minnesota, where he was a four-year letterwinner on the Gopher swim team before joining the coaching staff, where he served as an assistant coach for the Gopher men’s swimming and diving team and as the head coach for the distance competitors. He was also an assistant coach for the Twin Cities Swim Team (USS) for over two years.
 
Boelk made his mark in the high school ranks when he became the first swimmer in nearly 40 years from Northern Minnesota to win a high school state championship (1991). He earned his bachelor’s degree from Minnesota in kinesiology with a coaching minor and has a master’s degree in exercise physiology. Boelk has also published research regarding “Power Generation in Female Swimmers.”
 
Boelk resides in Amherst with his wife, Amy Sue. They have three children; Otto, Ivy, and Nora.