Reno native Brendon Bray enters his ninth season as the head coach of the women’s swimming and diving program. The 2024-25 campaign for the Wolf Pack marks his 20th overall season of NCAA coaching.
Bray has brought much success to Nevada since taking the helm in July 2016. Over his prior eight full seasons at Nevada, the Wolf Pack has finished no lower than third place at the Mountain West Championships six times, including a four-year run of runner-up finishes from 2019-22. Bray’s squads have thrice scored at the NCAA championships, finishing 24th in 2017, 29th in 2018, and 36th in 2023. Each of those years Nevada was the highest placing team from the Mountain West at the NCAA Championships.
Nevada has been represented at the NCAA Championships with individual qualifiers in each season of Bray's seasons at the helm, with the exception of 2020 when the national meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2021, Nevada shares the conference lead with seven qualifiers for the NCAA Championships, with a Mountain West-best three individual qualifiers in 2024.
Through 2024, Bray's swimmers have won a total of 20 Mountain West event titles over both individual and relay events, and the Wolf Pack’s total (including diving) sits at 33. Bray’s teams have also set school records in the 100 Free, 100 and 200 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, one meter and three-meter platform, 200 Free relay, 200 Medley Relay and 400 Medley Relay, 1000 freestyle and 1650 freestyle. At the 2024 Mountain West Championships, Scarlett Ferris set the conference record in the 100 back (51.49).
Swimmers that Bray has coached have represented countries from all over the world. He has coached two recent national champions, Josien Wijkhuijs, who was the Netherlands’ champion in the 50 and 100 backstroke as well as the 100 IM, and Andressa Cholodovskis, Brazil's national champion in the 100 IM, showing his support and encouragement for international athletes to compete in their home country qualifying events. Enkhkhuslen Batbayar, who competed in the 2020 and 2024 Olympics for Mongolia, is currently on the 2024 team, while Ferris, along with with fellow 2024 team members Yasmin Perry and Evie Floate, competed at the 2024 Great Britain Olympic trials.
Bray has also been very proud of local swimmers who have represented the team. Bishop Manogue graduate Donna dePolo qualified for the NCAA championships in the 100 and 200 breaststroke in 2021 and 2022 along with the 2021 Wave Two Olympic trials, and McQueen graduate Benedict Nagy, a three-time Mountain West 400 IM champion (2021-23), qualified for the 2023 NCAA Championships in that event.
Bray has also cultivated a strong academic culture within the program, as Nevada has achieved College Swim Coach Association (CSCA) team scholar All-American status every semester since his hire. His teams have never achieved below a 3.4 GPA and has earned as high as a 3.68 in Fall 2022, and two swimmers, dePolo (2022) and Frederica Kizek (2024), were named CoSIDA/CSC Academic All-Americans.
Prior to joining the Pack, Bray was the head coach at North Texas, leading the Mean Green to one of its best seasons in recent program history, highlighting his building process as UNT transitioned into a new conference. North Texas posted a 7-4 dual record in 2015-16, finishing with the second-most dual wins and second-best winning percentage in school history. Bray also helped the team to a 4th place finish at the Conference USA championships which was the highest finish in C-USA history.
Bray arrived to North Texas from San Diego State, where he coached the Aztecs for six seasons from 2007-13 and helped turn the program into a national contender. Bray was an assistant coach at SDSU before being promoted to associate head coach.
Prior to Bray’s arrival at SDSU, the program had finished last at the conference meet for five straight seasons. After helping recruit the fourth-best recruiting class in the nation in 2009, Bray then led the Aztecs to its first Mountain West championship in program history in 2011 before repeating as league champions in 2013.
Bray elevated SDSU to a peak No. 9 national ranking in NCAA Division I according to CollegeSwimming.com and frequent top 25 CSCAA rankings. During Bray’s tenure, the Aztecs broke every single swimming and diving program record and posted a 77-14 overall dual record, becoming a conference and regional power. Bray coached three Mountain West Swimmers of the Year, six NCAA All-Americans and 13 individual NCAA Championship participants during his tenure. SDSU also posted a 26-1 dual record in three seasons following Bray’s promotion into the role of associate head coach.
Bray began his coaching career at his alma mater, Washington, where he served as an undergraduate assistant from 2004-05 before being promoted to a men’s and women’s assistant head coach from 2005-07. As the program’s recruiting coordinator, Bray oversaw all recruiting operations and helped bring the top-ranked recruit in the nation to Washington in 2007. Bray also coached multiple NCAA qualifiers and NCAA Championship scorers while at UW.
After graduating as a three-time state champion at Reno High School, Bray went on to become a four-year collegiate letter winner. He began his collegiate career at Utah, competing for one season before transferring to Washington. Bray was a three-year letter winner with the Huskies and won the team’s most improved award as a junior and most inspirational award as a senior. Bray was a senior national qualifier and Pac-12 championship participant while at UW. He has also been a participant at the USA Swimming National Championships.
Bray received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Washington in 2005 before earning a master’s degree in intercollegiate athletic leadership at UW in 2007. Bray resides in Reno with his wife Beth, sons Calvin and Chase, and two English Bulldogs, Dwight and Daisy.
