Kayla Kumbier - Assistant Swimming Coach / Women's Recruiting - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Kayla Kumbier

Title:
Assistant Swimming Coach / Women's Recruiting
Email:
Phone:
919-962-6000

Kayla Kumbier joined the UNC swimming and diving coaching staff prior to the 2022-23 season after spending one year as an assistant coach at LSU. In her role at Carolina, Kumbier serves as the middle-distance coach, academic liaison, and plays a vital role in all recruiting efforts.

During the 2024-25 season, Kumbier helped the women's team qualify seven individuals for the NCAA Championships, where standouts Sophia Frei placed Top 16 in the 200 backstroke and Mary Macaulay placed Top 16 in the 200 IM. She played a key role in coaching the men to a fourth-place finish at the ACC Championships and helped send nine men to the NCAA Championships, the most since at least 1996. The men shattered numerous school records in the short course season as well. Additionally, Ben Delmar, PJ Foy and Skyler Smith were named to the 2025-26 U.S. National Team.

The 2023-24 season saw the Tar Heel women place fourth at the ACC Championships and 17th at NCAAs. Greer Pattison, Katja Pavicevic, Skyler Smith and Ellie VanNote all earned All-America accolades for finishing in the Top 16 in their respective events, while the 400-medley relay also claimed All-America honors.

Kumbier helped the Tar Heel women's team earn a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Championships during the 2023 season and coached seven All-America swimmers including UNC record holders Grace Countie, Sophie Lindner, and Ellie VanNote. The UNC women recorded a combined nine individual and relay records in 2023.

During her lone season in Baton Rouge, Kumbier primarily coached the middle-distance athletes, while serving as the women’s recruiting coordinator. Under her tutelage, Katarina Milutinovich and Brooks Curry each qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2022, while the LSU men’s team finished 15th at the NCAA meet.

Prior to arriving at LSU, Kumbier spent one year as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego and two seasons at UC San Diego. While at UC San Diego, she served as the lead coach for the middle-distance group, recruiting coordinator and alumni and parent liaison. She also helped produce several NCAA qualifiers and All-Americans.

She did the same at Minnesota State University, Mankato and Allegheny College. As a volunteer assistant at MSU, Mankato, Kumbier worked with the sprint, freestyle and butterfly specialists. She helped guide the 2020 NCAA men’s 50 free champion, NCAA women’s 200 IM runner-up and the 2019-20 NCAA women’s 200 medley relay runner-up.

When she arrived at Allegheny College, her role expanded to coaching and designing workouts for swimmers who specialized in sprint, middle-distance, and distance events. Kumbier also served as the head coach of the La Jolla Lightning YMCA Swim Team from 2018-2019.

Kumbier was a four-year letterman at Nothern Iowa, twice earning Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete awards. In 2014, she took home the MVC Leadership and Service Award and earned a nomination for NCAA Woman of the Year. In 2016, she was the recipient of the CSCAA Jean Freeman Scholarship which is awarded annually to six collegiate assistant coaches whose exceptional contributions have brought recognition to their institution.

Kumbier graduated from Northern Iowa with a degree in movement and exercise science with a double emphasis in exercise science and sport psychology and a minor in coaching. After graduating, she attended MSU, Mankato and earned a master’s in sport and exercise psychology, while serving as a volunteer graduate assistant with the swimming staff.