COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Erika Hansen, a five-time U.S. National Champion and former Olympic team member, will join the University of Maryland swimming team as an assistant coach, head coach Jim Wenhold announced Thursday.

"I'm extremely pleased to have Erika Hansen join our staff," Wenhold said. "Her experience as a swimmer and a coach at the highest level makes her a tremendous addition to our program."

Hansen comes to Maryland after serving as an assistant coach at the University of Southern California since 1997. Prior to her time at USC, she coached at the Jordan, Jager and Evans Gold Medal Swim Clinics and served as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Florida from 1994-96.

A U.S. Olympic Team member in 1988 and 1992 and a member of the U.S. National Team, Hansen was a five-time National Champion in 1984, 1985, 1990 and 1991.

As a collegiate swimmer at the University of Texas, Hansen won two NCAA Championships and earned the Longhorns' Most Improved Swimmer Award in 1992. She was a Barbara Jordan Scholarship Award Recipient in 1992 and the Southwestern Conference's Most Valuable Swimmer in 1991.