Brett Hawke Selected As Assistant For Brazilian Olympic Team

Auburn coach Brett Hawke has been named an assistant coach for the Brazilian Olympic team, the school announced on Twitter today.

Hawke has trained a number of Brazil’s Olympians during his time at Auburn, including Auburn alum Marcelo Chierighini, Bruno Fratus and Nicholas Santos.

In 2012, Hawke was a coach with the Bahamian Olympic team after training Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace during her college years. Prior to that, he was again with the Brazilian team in 2008. At the time, he was an assistant with Auburn, working mainly with the team’s sprinters. That group included Cesar Cielowho won Olympic gold in the 50 free. Hawke was also an assistant with the Brazilian national team the next year, when Cielo broke the world records in the 50 and 100 freestyles and won World Championships golds in both races.

Hawke also has Olympic experience as a swimmer, competing for Australia at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.

Brazil will be entering its largest Olympic swim team in history for the 2016 Olympic Games, which take place on home turf in front of a home audience. The team will include 20 men and 9 women.

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Coach mary
8 years ago

Sorry. Dictating instead of writing. Coach Hawke

Coach mary
8 years ago

I was sitting next to a swimmer at trials. He was from Auburn. He went over his times and progression for the last three years. He had incredible improvements. The Auburn kids at trials all seem to be enthusiastic and happy. I don’t get this negativity about coach hockey. He has recruited some of my swimmers and has been very professional

WET NOODLE
Reply to  Coach mary
8 years ago

Swimming slow isn’t very fun

Dawgpaddle
8 years ago

Dissing on Coach Hawke is like HITLERy Clinton hating. Getting very old. Give the man a break. He is doing the best he can. Congratulations Coach Hawke! Go Brazil. Given more time he will turn the AU program into a top tier program again.

Steve Digh
Reply to  Dawgpaddle
8 years ago

He’s “doing the best he can”….???? He’s one of the highest paid coaches in the NCAA. the women’s team was #1 the year before Hawke became head coach and have dropped to 33rd in the 8 years after his arrival. Decline of a dynasty is not to blame; the coach is. Just ask any former swimmer. Things are not good there, and it starts at the top. This post-grad Brazilain thing is a attempt to stay relevant.

Attila the Hunt
Reply to  Dawgpaddle
8 years ago

AU may turn into a top tier program again, but it will be most likely thanks to Sergio Lopez.

Mikeh
8 years ago

Auburn is barely an elite program anymore. Not sure why it has declined so much.

Attila the Hunt
Reply to  Mikeh
8 years ago

Keyword: rubber-suit.

In 2008-2009 Brett Hawke was adamant that the suits didn’t help his swimmers. Everyone who was on floswimming knew this very well. His program success was built on this fantasy.

2Fat4Speed
Reply to  Attila the Hunt
8 years ago

Pssssssst……

Auburn was pretty good before 2008-2009…..

Attila the Hunt
Reply to  2Fat4Speed
8 years ago

Yeah, but it was all Marsh.
Not until Hawke took over after Richard Quick’s death that Auburn started its decline.

Derek Mead
8 years ago

Dynasties come and go, rarely a coach’s fault. A new school starts becoming the place to go, recruits shift the school’s they look at and want to build their own dynasty, a swimmer explodes to success and convinces others, new recruit’s focus is academics, the university cuts resources, your top few recruits develop issues (eating disorder, partying, drugs)…

Having coached, I’ve gotten credit for swims that mayb should’ve gone to others, while taken the blame when there was nothing I could’ve done. There’s no way to judge a program without being on the inside.

Maybe Hawke is responsible, maybe he isn’t. But to say it’s all his fault because they aren’t winning titles anymore isn’t fair.

DDias
Reply to  Derek Mead
8 years ago

Agreed.
And I think (at least) he is working pretty well for Fratus.He made a 21.7 well trained swimmer in a 21.3 one.

SCCoach
8 years ago

is there a way to ignore certain posters? The coach hating on this site is unbearable

Bob
8 years ago

What is the issue with Brett?

weirdo
8 years ago

only one AU swimmer? he must already be on the brazilian payroll? should more time and effort be into getting Auburn on the right path?

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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