ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. (June 10, 2016)—Scott Devine, the St. St. Mary's College of Maryland director of athletics and recreation, introduced Casey Brandt Friday morning as the next aquatics center director and head coach for the men's and women's swimming programs. Brandt will assume his duties on Monday, June 27.
Devine stated, "It is my pleasure to announce Casey Brandt as our next head men's and women's swimming coach and aquatics center director. We spoke to some excellent coaches throughout the search process but Casey just brought the right combination of things to the table. He has 18 years of successful coaching experience with a proven ability to instruct and lead at the highest levels.
"In addition to developing swimmers at the junior national and Olympic levels, Casey holds an American Swim Coaches Association Level 4 Certification. He will bring a great deal of technical and developmental knowledge to our swim programs. Casey's club and USA Swimming connections throughout the state and the region will allow him to attract strong swimmers to St. Mary's College, both in terms of quality and quantity. This will help us build upon an already solid foundation."
No stranger to the Aquatics Center at the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center, Brandt has been a head coach for the local swim club, Chesapeake Bay Aquatic Club (CBAC), for almost seven years. He developed qualifiers at USA Swimming Sectionals, Junior Nationals, and Olympic trials as well as multiple Level AAAA standard achievers and state qualifiers.
"Casey has a strong knowledge of our aquatics center and he has experience operating swim meets out of our facility. I was excited to hear about his ideas for programming and the overall operation of our aquatics center, which is one of the best swimming facilities in the state. The future is extremely bright for Seahawks swimming and the St. Mary's College aquatics center," added Devine.
The La Plata, Maryland native also owns and serves as the program director for the Seneca Swim School in Park Hall, Md., working to promote water safety, teach foundational technique, and support the competitive swim program.
Brandt expressed, "I am excited about the potential to grow the aquatic programming at St. Mary's and honored that I have the opportunity to lead the men's and women's swim teams. I have seen firsthand the motivated and dedicated athletes on the team and I'm looking forward to working together to see what we can accomplish."
He has worked with several other swim clubs in Maryland throughout his extensive career such as the Mariner Swim Club in Baltimore, Carroll County YMCA in Westminster, and Smallwood Village Swim Club in Waldorf. Brandt was named the Metropolitan Swimming Age Group Coach of the Year in 2006-07 when he served as the head age group coach at the Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics in New York, N.Y.
Brandt was an accomplished collegiate swimmer for the Loyola College in Maryland Greyhounds from 1991 to 1995. He was named the Most Outstanding Male Swimmer at the 1995 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men's Swimming & Diving Championships, leading the Greyhounds to the program's first MAAC team title as he scored 44 points in capturing the 200 individual medley (for the second consecutive year) and the 400 individual medley. Brandt gained team MVP honors as a sophomore and as a senior while serving a team captain during his last two seasons at Loyola.
He graduated from Loyola in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Writing. Brandt then pursued an M.S. in Theory, History, & Criticism of Art, Design, & Architecture from Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in 2001.