Brandt Nigro was named the Army head swimming coach in the summer of 2019 and enters his fifth year at the helm.
Since taking over the reigns, the men's and women's teams have posted a combined 15-8-1 dual meet record, which includes a 6-5 mark against Patriot League opponents.
Nigro came to West Point after a two seasons at NC State as an assistant coach for the swimming and diving teams. His primary responsibilities included working with the sprint freestyle and stroke events. He also served as recruiting coordinator for the men's program.
Both the men's and women's teams enjoyed tremendous success during the 2018-19 season as the Wolfpack men and women swept the ACC Championships team titles, with the Pack men winning their fifth straight conference crown. The Wolfpack women won a total of 11 event titles at the conference meet, setting the program record for the most single-season conference titles. The men picked up a total of 17 podium finishes, including five gold medals. Coleman Stewart was honored as ACC Meet Co-MVP after racking up two individual titles and breaking a pair of ACC records.
At the 2019 ACC Women's Swim & Dive Championships, Nigro helped mentor the 200 freestyle relay squad to an ACC Title and an ACC Record while posting the second-fastest time in the country with a time of 1:26.15 - each member of this relay split 21's for the Wolfpack.
Both teams went on to tie program-best finishes at the NCAA Championships as the women placed seventh and the men secured their fourth team trophy and podium finish in a row with their fourth-place finish at the national meet. For the men, senior captain Andreas Vazaios won a national title in the 200 butterfly. At the women's NCAA Championship, Nigro guided sprinter Ky-lee Perry to 2 A Finals (50 freestyle & 100 freestyle), a first for a Wolfpack female sprinter. In addition, he helped coach several relays to program records and all-time high finishes - 200 freestyle & 200 medley relays.
Nigro also aided swimmers to several international meets, highlighted by Perry earning gold medal in the 50 LCM freestyle at the World University Games in Napoli, Italy. Additionally, his swimmers competed internationally at the World Championships, Pan American Games, Pan Pacific Games, and Central American Games.
The 2017-18 season was highlighted by N.C. State’s first NCAA Individual Swimming Champion since 2006 as Stewart won the 100 backstroke at the national meet. Anton Ipsen (1,650 freestyle) and Andreas Vazaios (200 butterfly) also captured first-place finishes at the 2018 NCAA Championships, giving the Pack three individual titles for the first time in program history. The Wolfpack’s relay teams set NCAA, U.S. Open, and American records to win both the 800 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay. The five titles and 31 All-America performances led N.C. State’s men to their third straight fourth-place finish. The finish capped off another successful season during which the Wolfpack men became ACC Champions for the fourth year in a row, led by ACC Most Valuable Swimmer Ryan Held and ACC Men’s Swimmer of the Year Andreas Vazaios. The Wolfpack won four of the five relay events and 10 of 13 individual races the 2018 Men's ACC Swimming & Diving Championships.
In total, while at N.C. State, Nigro had a hand in coaching the Wolfpack to a total of 112 All-America citations between the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. He additionally was a member of the staff that coached N.C. State to a program-record five event wins, including three individual national titles, at the 2018 NCAA Championships. In addition to the Pack's three team wins at the ACC Championships over the course of the past two seasons, Nigro has been a part of 32 event titles at ACC Championships in that span of time.
Nigro also had a hand in coaching Wolfpack Elite, the Post Grad/Pro group training out of N.C. State. With Wolfpack Elite, Nigro had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in the sport such as Cullen Jones, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Simonas Bilis, and Christopher Reid to name a few.
"We are thrilled to have Brandt taking over our swimming programs," Buddie said. "Everyone we spoke to about Brandt had great things to say about his work ethic, character and that he is a rising star in the sport. I am looking forward to following our cadet-athletes' success under his leadership."
Prior to his two years in Raleigh, Nigro had three successful seasons as an assistant coach at Marshall and UMBC.
The 2016-17 season saw Nigro help Marshall to its most successful season in program history. The Thundering Herd women's team scored a program-record 724 points at the Conference USA Championships to finish third. Nigro, who served as the primary coach for the sprint and backstroke groups, guided Sirena Rowe to the 2017 NCAA Championships. Rowe, the 2017 Conference USA Freshman of the Year, was the first Marshall swimmer to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 2005.
In addition, Marshall swimmers set 11 new school records, six pool records, and 10 NCAA B standards. The Thundering Herd also set high marks in the classroom, earning the nation's fifth-highest GPA.
Prior to Marshall, Nigro coached the UMBC men's and women's swimming and diving teams to back-to-back conference championships in his two seasons in Baltimore. He was a part of the 2015-16 CCSA Men's Coaching Staff of the Year and the 2014-15 America East Women's Coaching Staff of the Year. In those two seasons, 18 school records and eight conference records were set. The team was led by Emily Escobedo, who earned NCAA All-American honors in the 200 breaststroke.
While at UMBC, Nigro also served as the head senior coach of the Retriever Aquatic Club. At RAC, he guided the club through USA Swimming's Club Recognition Program, helping it to achieve Level 4 Recognition, the highest level for USA swim clubs. He also coached multiple Junior National/Futures qualifiers, Academic All-Americans, and Maryland Swimming Senior Champions. From 2014 to 2016, he served on the staff of USA Swimming's Eastern Zone Select Camp.
Nigro, a native of Bristol, Conn., began his collegiate coaching career as a volunteer assistant on the staff at Wesleyan University. He also coached extensively at the high school and club levels in Connecticut. Nigro worked as an assistant coach with the Cheshire YMCA Sea Dog Swim Club and served as head coach of Brookfield High School Girls Swim and Dive team, winning a Southwest Conference championship in 2012. Nigro is an ASCA Level 4 certified coach. He was selected to the ASCA Fellows Class of 2016 and interned at the Sprint Salo Swim Camp at the University of Southern California.
A former student-athlete at the College of Charleston, Nigro was a member of the 2003 Southern States Conference Championship team. He graduated with honors in 2005 with a B.A. in Political Science. In 2009, he graduated with honors from the University of Hartford with an M.S. and Sixth-Year Certificate in School Psychology. While in Connecticut, he worked as a state and nationally-certified school psychologist.