For the past three seasons, Head Coach Brandon Hullings has driven home from the Friends League Conference Championship meet soaking wet.

The winning team - including the coaching staff - traditionally jump into the pool to celebrate the victory. And while Brandon has built a strong program at GS, he knows better than to presume how a meet will go, so he never packs a spare set of clothes. Instead, he has made a new tradition of driving home drenched from head to toe.

“You have to always hope and expect the best based on your training plan, but it has always felt presumptuous to plan on celebrating,” he explained. 

Planning with intention is how Brandon, in collaboration with Assistant Athletic Director Ginna Lewing, has developed a successful swim program at George School - a program that focuses on providing each individual student-athlete the opportunity to learn the sport and train toward their own clearly defined goals. The environment they foster is grounded in Quaker values of community, belonging, and the desire to inspire student-athletes to “let their lives speak.” 

Rooting the program in these values has resulted in success. This year marked the third consecutive Friends Schools League (FSL) title for the boys team and the second consecutive FSL title for the girls. 

It’s hard for Brandon to remember a time when his life didn’t involve coaching. At the age of 12, he was helping teach young children how to blow bubbles and fetch pool toys at Express Swim America, the swim lessons branch of USA Swimming. A few years later, Brandon was named Head Coach at Ben Franklin Swim Club - he was just a sophomore in high school. 

“It was my first dip into the ‘dry’ side of the sport,” Brandon remembered. “Managing coaching schedules, meet lineups, practice schedules for multiple age groups and abilities, and unhappy parents - As excited as I was to be a ‘real’ coach, I quickly got the sense I was drowning. Fortunately, I had plenty of help from assistant coaches and parents that first year. After that, I began to develop a strategic approach to coaching and program management.”

Brandon was also a highly competitive swimmer, earning Scholastic All-American Honors at neighboring Pennington School in New Jersey and continuing to compete at Denison University, where his team won the 2010-2011 NCAA Division III Championship.

After graduation, he returned to Pennington to help develop their Aquatics Program, guiding both the Middle School Swim Team and the Water Polo Team to championships while coaching over twenty varsity record holders, including four of Pennington's five All-Americans. He also led the New Jersey Stingrays Swim Team, building a competitive program that produced Junior National qualifiers and finalists. Brandon transitioned to Senior Coach at the Eastern Express Swim Club before arriving at George School as Director of Aquatics in 2021.

“When I first arrived at GS, the community made me feel as if I belonged there all along.” Brandon recounts. “I have found through my first four years here that the initial sense of community and compassion was genuine.” 
George School Aquatics provides swimmers of all ability levels the opportunity to train for success and learn the sport of swimming in a positive, challenging, fun, and supportive environment. Our professional coaches are devoted to developing complete student-athletes with a mind towards achievement both in and out of the pool. We are dedicated to establishing a solid foundation of proper mechanics and training habits upon which our athletes can grow and accomplish their goals in competitive swimming.

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