Brad Flood, a former assistant coach at Iowa, Clemson, and Texas A&M among many other places, has died. He was 69 years old.
Flood retired from coaching in 2020 as the head coach of the Pfeiffer University women’s swimming team, where he was also aquatics director and adjunct professor in the school’s Division of Education.
Flood swam at NCAA Division II Slippery Rock State College before taking his first coaching job at the University of Iowa in 1988. There he gained his fame as the school’s distance coach, leading a training group that included Polish Olympian Artur Wojdat. Wojdat was the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist in the 400 free and won nine NCAA titles across the 200, 500, and 1650 yard freestyles while training at Iowa.
His nine individual NCAA titles ties him as third-most by a male NCAA collegiate swimmer in history, and included an NCAA and U.S. Open Record in the 500 freestyle.
In total, his group earned 33 All-America honors from six different athletes.
He spent the 1992-199e season with Texas A&M as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator before spending four seasons as head assistant coach at Clemson.
He took over his first program in August 1996 when he became the head coach of D1 program Central Connecticut State University. He led the women’s team to a conference title in 2001 and had NCAA qualifiers in 1999, 2000, and 2002.
After leaving CCSU, he build the University of Bridgeport from scratch, launching the women’s program in 2003 and the men’s program in 2009 at the NCAA Division II level. Among his trainees there was Oscar Pereiro, who won four straight NCAA titles in the 100 backstroke from 2010 through 2014, setting an NCAA Division II Record in 2011.
After retiring for the first time in 2014, he spent two seasons leading NCAA Division II Pfeiffer University in North Carolina from 2018 through 2020 before retiring again.
Flood also had a long engagement with the Polish Olympic Team, including as the team’s head coach at the 1992 Games. At that meet, Polish swimmers set 13 National Records, and Rafal Szukala won a silver medal in the 100 fly.
Flood had been suffering from health issues and living in North Carolina, friends of the coach told SwimSwam.
An excellent coach and a terrific guy. His coaching tree is enormous. Very helpful to my son. When he completed his eligibility at Central CONN, Brad made him a student volunteer assistant. He then directed him to another university for a graduate assistantship while he earned his Master’s Degree and met his future wife. In addition, he spent two great years working under another nationally recognized coach. My son has since gone on to have a long and very successful career as a high school coach. RIP and GOD Bless Brad for all you have done for so many.
Brad had an outstanding career throughout and was a legend and amazing character in D2. Never short of passion, he will be missed by many, myself included.
Brad was a great ambassador for swimming. He swam for Cumberland Valley High School (PA) and, Slippery Rock University (PA). During his many coaching stops he impacted countless swimmers. Brad was a great friend and will be missed.
I was privileged to be on the same swim team with Brad at Cumberland Valley High School Swim Team, Mechanicsburg, PA. He was a great leader and inspiration to fellow swimmers, with a great sense of humor. May God bless his family during this difficult time.
I am saddened to hear of Brad’s passing. He was always outspoken, passionate and a smart coach. I will always remember his purple attire and his celebrations on the deck. Rest in peace, my friend.
Point: he coached club(s) before he started at U of Iowa in ‘88
Sorry to hear this. Brad was a great Coach helping many athletes and Coaches along his career. RIP My Friend.
I got to know Brad as a young coach in D2 and really appreciated his willingness to be kind and helpful. He definitely had a strong personality and opinions, but the guy loved swimming and helping his athletes succeed. A very smart, passionate coach.
This really sucks and hurts.
I just talked to Brad on social media a few days ago. I know he had some health concerns but I didn’t expect this.
Coach Flood was a legendary guy and a great person to talk shop (or music or politics or grilling) with over the years. He help produce some of the best athletes that the Hawkeyes had ever seen in the pool during his years in Iowa City. I got to know him better later on as I became a full time coach (mainly from clinics, National meets, and his recruiting calls). Brad always had some interesting ideas about training and a few excellent coaching stories to tell.
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