I grew up in Minot, ND and began competitive swimming at the age of 9 for Minot Swim Club. I swam for MSC for ten years as well as four years at Minot High where I was a member of 4 undefeated state championship teams from 1999 until I graduated in 2002.
After high school I began my coaching career in the fall of 2004. I coached the Erik Ramstad girls and boys swim teams for 8 years and 7 years respectively as the Head Coach of the girls team and the asst coach of the boys team. My girls team won the school's second ever city championship in 2008 and my boys teams won back to back titles in 2006 and 2007. I worked as an asst coach for ASK swim club in 2010 and 2011 for two seasons before leaving to take the Head Girls Coaching job at Williston High School in August 2011. I was the Girls Head Coach for two seasons and the Boys Head Coach for one season where I won WDA Boys Coach of the Year in 2013.
After that I returned home to Minot for one year serving as an asst coach for my wife as a part of the Jim Hill boys and girls teams where we won the city championships in 2013 and 2014 respectively. In August of 2014 we moved to Bismarck where I accepted a coaching position with Aquastorm. I also served as an asst coach with the Century boys team that year winning the state title in 2015. In the fall of 2015, I accepted the position of the first Head Coach for the girls and boys teams at Legacy High School. I also simultaneously served as the Bismarck High Boys Head Coach that season as well for one year. I stepped down from the Legacy Boys job after six seasons in May of 2021. I continue to serve as the Girls Head Coach. I have been fortunate to be named WDA Girls Coach of the Year in 2016, 2023 and 2025. I enjoy being involved in our sport and am in my fourth term on the NDHSAA Advisory Board for swimming serving 2015-2018, 2018-2021, 2021-2024 and now 2024-present. I ran for VP in 2025 for the NDHSCA Board.
On the club side I have been fortunate to serve as an asst coach for Team ND at Zones in 2016 and 2017 and then spent 2018 as the Head Coach for Team ND. I served one year as the Senior Vice Chair on the NDLSC Board of Directors and then moved into the Coaches Rep position from 2018-2020. I currently serve as the Program Director of Aquastorm and as asst coach for the Senior-National group.
I have been married 12 years to my wife Leah who teaches PE and Digital Lit at Simle where she also coaches track and had previously served as my asst boys swim coach. We have two kids, Michael who is 8 and Sarah who is 5.
Amber joined the coaching staff in the 2017 season. She has been a vital part in the development of the program especially working with our younger swimmers. She brings a wealth of knowledge with her and has been a big part of our team's growth and development. She also serves as an assistant coach for the Aquastorm club team and her daughter McKayla was a six year member of the Sabers team who graduated in 2023.
Billy joined the coaching staff for the 2024 season. He spent 17 years coaching diving for Shanley High School in Fargo. He has coached numerous state champions.
Emily joined the coaching staff in 2025 and previously coached diving for AQST and BPS. She also has a fitness background has a great deal of knowledge in bringing out the best in her athletes!
Coach "Silby" has been with us since the 2024 season leading our dryland strength training program.
Michael Silbernagel is the manager of Sanford Sports in Bismarck, ND, and an adjunct professor in the Master of Science in Kinesiology program at the University of Mary.
Prior to joining Sanford Sports Performance, Silbernagel was part of the collegiate strength and conditioning community for over 20 years at both the Division I and Division II levels.
After playing collegiate football and earning his undergraduate degree from Valley City State University, he started his coaching career at the University of North Dakota as a graduate assistant while earning his master’s degree in kinesiology. This was followed by a six-year stint as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Colorado State University. He most recently spent just shy of 13 years as the head strength and conditioning coach and adjunct professor of the exercise science department at the University of Mary.
During his career, Silbernagel has worked with a wide range of sports and has been fortunate enough to work with athletes who competed in the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and UFC, as well as International and Olympic levels of competition.
Cassie joined our team as our coordinator for the "Thriving Teams" program during the 2025 season. She was instrumental in the mental side of swimming/diving for our athletes. Cassie worked hard to help the girls with different life lessons and goal setting and just working on being great teammates and people. She is a very decorated athlete herself especially in swimming and basketball and a former college athlete. She is such a valued part of our program!!