McAllister announces hiring of Hanselmann, Springer and Lythgoe

PROVO, Utah — BYU head swimming and diving coach Tamber McAllister announced the completion of her staff on Monday with the hiring of three assistant coaches in former Cougar swimmers Christian Hanselmann, Melissa Springer and Emma Lythgoe.

Christian Hanselmann

Hanselmann’s BYU homecoming follows extensive coaching experience at both the NCAA Division I and high school levels in Indiana, Tennessee and Michigan.

Over the last three seasons (2021-24), Hanselmann has helmed Southeastern Swim Club and Hamilton Southeastern High School swimming in Fishers, Indiana. Hanselmann coached Southeastern Swim Club into one of the top 200 programs in the country and led Hamilton Southeastern to top 10 state finishes while mentoring over 10 athletes into the collegiate ranks.

Hanselmann began high school and club coaching as an assistant at Carmel High School and Carmel Swim Club in Carmel, Indiana from 2019 to 2021. There, Hanselmann helped both boy’s and girl’s swimming to state titles while sending many athletes onto the college level.

Prior to coaching in Indiana, Hanselmann gained collegiate coaching experience as an assistant at Eastern Michigan and Tennessee.

Hanselmann helped Eastern Michigan men’s swimming to its 34^th MAC Championship in 2017 while mentoring the women to a MAC runner-up finish and sending two athletes on to the NCAA Championships.

In two seasons as an assistant at Tennessee (2017-19), Hanselmann coached the Volunteers to 73 All-American citations and 14 SEC individual titles.

A native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Hanselmann came to BYU from Mt. Verne High School in 2008. Hanselmann specialized in backstroke and butterfly for the Cougars while under the mentoring of then-BYU assistant Tamber McAllister.

Following his freshman season in 2008-09, Hanselmann set aside swimming to serve a two-year full-time mission (2009-11) for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Upon returning from missionary service, Hanselmann completed his Cougar swimming career during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.

Hanselmann graduated from BYU in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise and wellness, then completed a master’s degree in sport psychology and motor behavior at the University of Tennessee in 2015.

Hanselmann is married to the former Jenny Connolly, an eight-time SEC Champion and 22-time All-American for the Lady Vols (2009-12). The Hanselmanns are the parents of a son, Liam, and two daughters, Olivia and Riley.

Melissa Springer

Springer, a former BYU teammate of head coach Tamber McAllister, returns to the Cougars in 2024 with 18 years of head coaching experience in both high school and club swimming in Michigan and Wisconsin.

A native of Aloha, Oregon, Springer swam for BYU during the 2001-02 season following her prep career at Southridge High School. Springer interrupted her time at BYU in 2004-05 to serve a full-time 18-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Campinas, Brazil.

After graduating from BYU with a bachelor’s degree in communications, Springer worked as a strategic consultant in Michigan. It wasn’t long before Springer realized a return to the pool was in order.

Springer began her high school coaching career as the head girl’s swimming coach at Walled Lake Western High School in Walled Lake, Michigan. While at Walled Lake Western, Springer’s athletes broke five longtime school records. In the offseason, Springer dove into club coaching and established the Edgewood Country Club swim team in Walled Lake. Under Springer’s leadership, the club blossomed from 15 initial swimmers to over 100 during her 2007 to 2013 tenure.

When her husband’s job necessitated a move, Springer transitioned to the boy’s and girl’s head swimming coach position at DC Everest High School in Wausau, Wisconsin. Springer turned around a boy’s team struggling to maintain its roster and doubled the size of the team while also creating a boy’s middle school program to bolster the program’s future. Springer’s five years at the helm of DC Everest swimming (2015-19) saw athletes break every school record while she won multiple Wisconsin Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors.

As her own children began swimming, Springer turned her attention to club swimming and oversaw the merger of a USA team with a YMCA team to create Wausau’s Woodson Y Northern Swimmers. From 2018 to 2024, Springer led the age group swimmers to break team records, secure state titles and post a Wisconsin Girl’s 10 and under Swimmer of the Year.

Springer furthered her coaching network as a participant in the USA Swimming Women’s Leadership Summit of 2022 as well as serving on the coaching staff for USA Swimming’s Zone Select Camps in 2022 and 2023.

Most recently, Springer has coached all-stars and zones for Team Wisconsin and spent the past year as the Senior Chair of the Wisconsin Swimming Board.

Springer and her husband Brian are the parents of children Carly and JJ.

Emma Lythgoe

Lythgoe comes to BYU after four years as the head boy’s and girl’s swimming coach at Newbury Park High School in Newbury Park, California. Under Lythgoe’s guidance, the Newbury Park girls secured their first string of back-to-back (2023-2024) league championships in a decade along with their first-ever county championship.

The Newbury Park boys also earned their first all-time county title under Lythgoe in 2023. Lythgoe’s Newbury Park swimmers collected a high school All-American honor, multiple CIF section and state finalist spots and broke six school records over the course of her tenure.

From 2022-2024, Lythgoe also developed the Pleasant Valley Swim Team as the club’s head coach. Lythgoe led Pleasant Valley swimmers to several top finishes at age-group championship meets.

A native of Scottsdale, Arizona, Lythgoe came to BYU in 2014 from Horizon High School and the Arizona Marlins swim club. Lythgoe prepped under coaches Sam Kramer and Mike Maczuga, respectively, then went on to be coached by then-assistant Tamber McAllister while at BYU (2014-18).

A two-time All-MPSF performer for the Cougars, Lythgoe established herself as a leader both in and out of the pool with a position as team captain and Student Athlete Advisory Council president.

Lythgoe graduated from BYU in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in biology, then went on to earn a teaching credential from California State – Northridge in 2020. Lythgoe is the daughter of Frank and Tracy Richards and married her husband, Tyler, in 2017.