Board Spotlight: Brian Schrader
By Emma Sougstad
For nearly thirty years, Brian Schrader has embraced and enjoyed the challenge of building great teams. Along the way, Brian’s career has exposed him to a who’s who of coaching mentors. He started his career as a graduate assistant at Texas, working alongside Eddie Reese and Kris Kubik and helping the Longhorns to the 1991 NCAA title before the Iowa native took a position with the Hawkeyes. From there Schrader spent four years as USA Swimming’s National Team Coordinator working alongside Dennis Pursley, Jonty Skinner, Mike Unger and more.
At the dawn of the new century Schrader returned to the pool deck full-time beginning a six-year run in the SEC at both Florida and Georgia where he added coaching legends Jack Bauerle, Gregg Troy and Jerry Champer to his list of mentors. In 2006 Schrader began building Denver into the nation’s pre-eminent Mid-Major program and this past fall Marc Long lured him back to the Hawkeye state.
In his years on deck, Coach Schrader has observed tremendous changes taking place a record-breaking clip, specifically in the areas of student-athlete welfare, budgets, high-performance issues, and conference alignment. Most importantly, he feels there’s a tremendous need for coaches “to communicate the incredible value swimming and diving bring to the administration and community.”
In addition to the above, Schrader counts Carol Capitani, Dennis Dale, Bill Dorenkott, Dave Collins, and Bill Wadley among his strongest influences, finishes his 22nd year of collegiate coaching he increasingly gains satisfaction by sharing with other coaches, most of the time with concrete examples. His favorite line to learn from and relate to is “If I had only listened ….”.
Indeed, Brian’s influence in the sport is increasingly being recognized. He was a leading advocate for changes to the NCAA selection process that enabled additional relays to qualify for the championships. “I’m proud of our work there,” he explains, “but I’m happier to see high-performing student-athletes being acknowledged and allowed to compete.”
He has also, since 2015, served as Secretary on the CSCAA’s Executive Board. It is a role that has provided him two of his proudest moments – first presenting Kris Kubik with his lifetime achievement award at the 2017 CSCAA Convention in San Diego and interviewing Eddie Reese on stage at the 2018 CSCAA Convention in Evanston.
Five Questions With BS
Biggest Obstacle: “Taking time for life, balance and wellness. It’s a work in progress.”
Advice to Young Coaches: “Take a breath. Sleep on it.”
Biggest Changes in My Career: “Underwater kicking, race-pace training, the availability of information on technique and training.”
Most Memorable Talk: “I always love hearing about what works in the pool, but last year’s talk from Brian Curtis was so timely, dynamic and relevant. It should be required viewing for every collegiate coach.”
What do you want your legacy to be: “I just hope I’ll be regarded as someone who made every team I was a part of, better.”