One last goodbye

After 11 years, swimming and diving coach Art Brandt steps down

LAST+HOORAH%3A+UW-Eau+Claire+swimming+and+diving+head+coach+Art+Brandt%2C+middle%2C+celebrates+one+of+the+teams+meets+earlier+this+season.+Submitted

LAST HOORAH: UW-Eau Claire swimming and diving head coach Art Brandt, middle, celebrates one of the team’s meets earlier this season. Submitted

Story by Meghan Hosely, Staff Writer

Swimming and diving head coach Art Brandt has spent most of his life in or around a swimming pool, whether he was swimming or coaching.

He has been a part of the UW-Eau Claire swimming and diving team for 11 years, but now, he’s leaving the pool deck for good.

Brandt started coaching while he was in  high school. Even when he started swimming for Miami University (Ohio), he still kept with it. After college, Brandt held several coaching positions, from high school teams in North Minneapolis (Minn.) and Menomonie, to a club team in Menomonie. It wasn’t until a former swimmer told him about a position available on the Eau Claire staff that Brandt became a coach at the collegiate level.

“I was a volunteer for one year here, an assistant for four and the head coach for the last six,” Brandt said.

Since he is a professor at Eau Claire, Brandt said it made sense to keep coaching at the collegiate level; he was on campus anyway. But years passed, and Brandt said it’s time to bid farewell.

“A lot of it has to do with knowing when to leave, or knowing when to move on,” Brandt said. “I had a good year this year, and you always want to end on a good note.”

Senior Ben Epperly is one swimmer who will have to say goodbye to  his long time coach. Epperly was recruited by Brandt after he initially asked the head coach if there were any spots available on the team.

“He really spends a lot of time caring about his athletes rather than the overall success of the program,” Epperly said. “He obviously cares about how we do … but his primary focus is improving us.”

Brandt’s goal is to have the athletes graduate with a career to work hard, he said. He said when he sees someone working to achieve it’s special to him.

Freshman swimmer Nina Tabatabai also reflected on Brandt’s philosophy of school comes first.

“He always had a midterm grade check that he highly recommended we fill out so he knows how we’re doing,” Tabatabai said. “Because you have to be eligible … to swim.”

She said she was shocked to learn Brandt was stepping down, especially since he helped her with the transition from high school to college swimming.

“He knew you would make mistakes, he knew you sometimes wouldn’t understand what was going on,” Tabatabai said. “He was really helpful about being understanding when you weren’t sure what was going on in a swim meet … He’d do a good job with explaining everything.”

Epperly said he will remember the annual conference meet because it displayed Brandt’s passion for the sport.

“Art is really a dedicated coach, more so to his athletes than anything else,” Epperly said. “You can really tell his care and passion in and out of the pool. From where the program was to what it is now, he’s really made a lot of improvements.”

Tabatabai said it’s comforting knowing other coaches want the new head coach position. As for this year though, it’s one she said she’ll never forget.