Russ Bertram

Early life and diving

Bertram was born on July 12, 1965, in Indianapolis, Indiana, and graduated Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis. He attended Indiana University Bloomington from 1985-1989, graduating in 1989 with a degree in Operations and Systems Management. While competing with the Indiana Swimming team, he placed second in 3-meter diving in a winning meet against Wisconsin in late October, 1987. He performed well at many meets as an independent diver during his summers at Indiana, placing first in both the one and three-meter springboard at the Midwest Invitational Championships on July 3, 1986. While at the University he was managed by Hall of Fame Diving Coach Hobie Billingsley, a 1945 NCAA Championship diver from Ohio State. His platform championships consisted of gold medals in the 10-meter platform in both the 1993 and 1995 U.S. National Indoor Championships. He won his third 10-meter Platform championship at the August, 1996 Phillips 66 Outdoor Diving National Championships in Moultrie, Georgia, as the oldest competitor at 31.

Bertram competed in the June, 1996 Olympic Diving Trials in Indianapolis, Indiana. In his trial final, he finished sixth in the 10-meter platform, failing to make the U.S. team. While training for the Olympics, he was managed by Ron O'Brien at the Fort Lauderdale Diving Team. In his peak training period, he weighed 145, at a height of 5' 6", trained six hours a day, six days a week, and included ballet and kick-boxing in his regiment.

Coaching career In 1989 while at Ohio State University, Bertram began his coaching career as a graduate assistant diving coach for an Ohio State squad that featured six Olympians and 10 U.S. National Champions. In 2010 while at the University of Arizona, he received the prestigious Phil Boggs Award from USA Diving for a lifetime commitment to the sport. In 2010, Bertram helped host three major successful championships on the Arizona campus. These included the USA Diving Junior National Championship, the Championship for FINA World Junior Diving, and the Championship for USA National Diving Age Group competition. In 2014-2015, Bertram won back-to-back national coach of the year awards for qualifying and sending 21 of his men's divers to the NCAA Regional competition in a three-year period. In 2014, one of his men's divers, Max Levy, was named the Division III Diver of the Year, helping to secure Denison a second-place NCAA team finish. In all, at Denison, Bertram has coached three of his male divers to national championship performances, including Max Levy, Ben Lewis, and Connor Dignan.