John Brooks Hired as Next BYU Head Coach

PROVO, Utah, March 21. BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe announced today the hiring of John Brooks as the head coach of the swimming and diving program. Brooks takes over from legendary coach Tim Powers who is retiring after 37 years at BYU.

Brooks has been an assistant coach of the combined men's and women's program at BYU since 2008, serving as recruiting coordinator and position coach for the distance swimmers. During that time the Cougars captured three women's conference titles in 2009, 2010 and 2012, while the men placed top 25 at the NCAA Championships in 2010 and also won a conference title in 2012.

“We are pleased to announce John as the new BYU head swimming coach,” said Holmoe. “He is passionate about swimming and his enthusiasm is contagious. John has been a tireless recruiter and enjoys the respect of our athletes and coaches. We look forward to having him lead our swimming program.”

Before coming to BYU, Brooks was an assistant swim coach at UNLV (2007-08), where he helped the Rebels win conference titles both seasons and had seven swimmers qualify for the NCAA Championships. Prior to UNLV, Brooks spent a season (2006) as an assistant at the University of Utah, where he coached four athletes that qualified for the NCAA Championships.

“It's been an honor working with coach Powers and the staff for the past four years,” Brooks said. “I'm excited for the opportunity to continue the legacy of BYU's great coaches. This university has so much to offer and I look forward to helping our student-athletes be successful in the pool and in the classroom.”

In addition to his full-time collegiate coaching experience, Brooks has worked in various capacities with several universities, including Stanford and Alabama. He also served as a guest coach at Georgia with former US Olympic coach Jack Bauerle. Brooks has coached swimmers that have competed at USA Junior and Senior Nationals, Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games.

He was also the head swim coach at East High School in Salt Lake City from 2001-04, where he guided East to state titles in 2003 and 2004 after a second-place finish in 2002. For his efforts he was named UHSAA 4A Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2004.

Brooks is continuing his father Skip Brooks' legacy, who swam and coached at BYU in the 1950s and 60s. Brooks is a 2003 economics graduate of the University of Utah, where he lettered in swimming. He served an LDS mission to Brussels, Belgium, and is married to Katie Brooks, a BYU graduate. The couple has two sons.

Brooks will announce his staff in the coming weeks as positions are filled.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use