Tom “Tommy” Henninger ‘07 passed away unexpectedly on July 19 at the age of 37. Henninger was a highly accomplished diver at Germantown Academy who returned to rebuild GA’s dive program as head coach.
During his time at GA, Henninger was a three-time High School All-American and won the Eastern Interscholastic Diving Championship three straight years in a row from 2005 to 2007. He also set GA one-meter diving records, scoring 360 for six dives and 560 for 11 dives.
Henninger graduated from GA in 2007 and continued to dive at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned three varsity letters. His impact on GA, however, began when he returned to coach in 2015.
Former GA swim coach Jeff Thompson still remembers his first phone interview with Henninger from the pool office. During the conversation, Thompson looked up at the record board and suddenly realized that the person he was interviewing was GA’s current school record holder.
“Tommy was a pretty modest guy,” Thompson said. “He wasn’t a real chest beater and didn’t brag about his accolades. It just wasn’t his style.”
When Henninger took over, GA only had one diver, Alaina Schumann. Thompson had promised Schumann and her family that he would find them a coach capable of rebuilding the program. It did not take long for him to realize that Henninger was the right person.
“It took me like five seconds with Tommy, and I knew that he would be the right person to oversee the diving program,” Thompson said.
At first, Henninger faced challenges involving limited space, equipment, and a shortage of athletes. Regardless, he constantly found creative solutions to the problems. He asked GA to install a trampoline and harness on the pool deck. He also constructed a wooden platform for practicing jumps and built a bubbler to reduce the impact of the water when divers attempted new and difficult dives.
He also began holding clinics for younger divers and founded the Germantown Academy Diving Club in 2016. The program grew from one diver to eventually 51 divers and five coaches.
“He was always coming up with things that made the kids interested and made them want to come to the pool because they never knew what Tommy was going to do next,” Thompson said.
Henninger’s creativity eventually led to historic results. In 2023, Libby Brewer ‘25 became GA’s first female Easterns diving champion. Laurel DePolo ‘25 won the championship the following year, and Brewer won again in 2025. That year, GA divers finished 1st through 4th in the girls events and scored the maximum possible 113 points.
DePolo, who now dives at Penn State, first met Henninger as a shy 4th grader who was afraid of diving. She immediately found him welcoming and quickly became comfortable around him.
“Tom just believed in me no matter what, “ DePolo said. “He gave me the confidence to know that I could do it.”
That belief became especially important during high school when coaches on another team would not allow DePolo to attempt certain dives. Henninger trusted her, and with his support she improved those dives and restored her confidence.
“He kind of just saved me from quitting,” DePolo said.
Henninger’s influence on his athletes extended far beyond the pool. DePolo credits him with bringing together many of her closest friends and eventually guiding her to GA and helping her get into Penn State.
“I would be an entirely different person without [him],” DePolo said. “So much of the people we become, we owe to him.”
Thompson believes Henninger’s impact permanently changed GA athletics.
“I think Tommy put Germantown Academy diving on the map for the first time,” Thompson said. “He built something from the ground up that’s really special.”
Beyond that success, Thompson will remember Henninger as a close friend with an unforgettable laugh who cared deeply about his athletes.
“Tommy was my guy,” Thompson said. “We had a great 11-year run together, and I’m grateful for those 11 years.”