Competitor Coach of the Month is a recurring SwimSwam feature shedding light on a U.S.-based coach who has risen above the competition. As with any item of recognition, Competitor Coach of the Month is a subjective exercise meant to highlight one coach whose work holds noteworthy context – perhaps a coach who was clearly in the limelight, or one whose work fell through the cracks a bit more among other stories. If your favorite coach wasn’t selected, feel free to respectfully recognize them in our comment section.
Brian Reynolds has been the head coach at Drury for more than four decades, leading the Panthers to a total of 33 NCAA Division II titles during his career.
That success has continued to be put on display throughout the 2024-25 season, which is Reynolds’ 42nd year as head coach of the men’s team and 37th leading the women’s program.
Drury has only raced once so far in 2025, but it was a dominant performance against Oklahoma Christian University.
The women’s team won 215-93, with the likes of Mellie Wijk, Belen Morales and Claire Conover leading the Panthers with some standout performances.
Wijk, a senior from Sweden, won the women’s 100 breast in a lifetime best of 1:00.96, narrowly missed her PB in winning the 100 fly (54.09), and added runner-up finishes in the 50 free (23.64) and 100 free (51.47), with the 50 free mark also standing as a best time.
Her swim in the 100 breast ranks 3rd in NCAA Division II this season, while her 100 fly best time of 54.02 from the midseason SMU Invite ranks 2nd.
The 200 breast was won by Conover, who set a season-best time of 2:11.90 to rank 2nd in Division II, only trailing Drury teammate Jonette Laegried, who didn’t compete against OCU but was 2:08.86 at the SMU invite.
Another impressive performer at the meet was Guatemalan freshman Belen Morales, who swept the 50 free (23.57), 100 free (50.91) and 200 free (1:51.92), setting lifetime bests in the two former events (she was even faster in the 50 leading off the 200 free relay in 23.54).
On the men’s side, Drury ran away with the dual against OCU, with the final score coming in at 240-72, improving their dual meet record to 4-0 on the season.
They won all but two events, with German sophomore Max Hagl setting a lifetime best of 49.23 en route to winning the 100 fly, while adding a season-best in winning the 100 back (49.04). Alvaro Zornova and Lachlan Sheehy were two other notable performers who hit PBs, while Brazilian sophomore Yuri Cabral picked up two individual wins in the 50 and 100 free.
The Drury men ranked 1st in the CSCAA Division II polls in January, while the women’s team sits 3rd.
Heading into the postseason with plenty of momentum, Reynolds will aim to lead the women’s team to their ninth Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship title after winning last year, while the men will seek to move up after placing 3rd in 2024.
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Reynolds has been phoning it in for the last 10-15 years. Maybe he had the passion a while ago, but he doesn’t even attend all the practices, his assistants have run the ship for forever, and now nobody wants to work for him. The program is in a low place compared to where it has been in the past. Club coaches around here don’t want to send their athletes to Drury anymore and he’s losing his international connections so recruiting has been drying out. He should retire but he uses training trip to get a free vacation to Hawaii every year
Umm….what is their ranking this year? Jealous much?
He has done a great job recruiting over the years…..he knew and knows how to work the system. Well done Coach.
Well deserved!