Swimming New South Wales has announced that Matt Brown will be taking over as head coach of the SOPAC team based at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. Brown will assume this new position on January 6th, 2020, succeeding Job van Duijnhoven. Previously a Dutch age group coach, van Duijnhoven lead SOPAC swimming for two years. At 2019 Australians Swimming Championships, SOPAC did not crack the top 10 as a team, but team member Matt Wilson took home gold in both the 100 and 200 breast.
Brown will join the SOPAC coaching staff after 17 years at Grammar School – serving as Director of Swimming from 2002 until 2016 when he was promoted to High Performance Swimming Coach.
Trinity Grammar School is an independent all-boys boarding school with various locations across Australia. During his 17 years with Trinity Grammar School, Brown led the team to a record 13th straight victories at the Combined Associated Schools (CAS) Championships between 2003 and 2016. To add to his legacy at Trinity Grammar School, Brown also coached his swimmers dozens of podium finishes at Australian Age Swimming Championships, including 55 gold medals.
Commenting on Brown’s coaching success at the school, a representative from Swimming NSW said: “Many clubs go through ups and downs over time as athletes enter and leave the program and it is has been a testament to Matthew’s coaching ability and his strong focus on the pathway that the Trinity Grammar School Swimming program has been resistant to this and has performed consistently year after year.”
Brown also previously coached Kenneth To, who moved to Australia from Hong Kong when he was 2. To was on several Australian junior and national teams between 2010 and 2014 and swam under Brown for several years before deciding to switch his international representation to Hong Kong. In 2017, he moved back to his home country and in 2019, moved to Gainesville, Florida to train with the Gators Swim Club. Earlier this year, To died during a practice while attending at training camp in the Florida Keys.
SOPAC has also stated that they are still is the process of searching for three more coaches to work with Brown.
I would like to leave a mention of respect for Job van Duijnhoven. What people tend to forget is that the program has been in an all-time low when he started in 2017. With a clear structure and quality coaching staff, Job has set up a pathway that built the squad back up to a quality program with open level swimmers.
In the last 12 month’s the program has had to deal with a lot of issues on the way that has made the work for the coaches harder than it should be.
With the loss of two coaches (one for innapropriate behavior) the coaches have dealt with a significant increase in workload without dropping the performance. Ironically, the coach… Read more »
Congrats Browny! Great guy who will no doubt do wonderful things at SOPAC
He also coached Ning Zetao as well iin Brisbane.
Different Matt Brown. That Matt is still in china coaching
Wrong matt Brown.
I got excited thinking it was the real matt Brown.
Although i suppose with how their respective careers have gone the last 3-5 years he pretty much is the real Matt Brown now.
Neither of them have done anything for years.
Seebom left the real one & To was very special.
Trinity Matt Brown has ran an absolutely awesome age group program for a decade.
Now he will get to work with elite open guys, he gets a chance to show what he can do, and it’s a well earned one.
SOPAC is a rich clubat a great facility and he is an established great age group coach. He will have some good open guys in a few short years.
Hardly a rich club if Swimming NSW has come in to run it because the centre operator is tired of running a club and squad program. Not sure how Matt will get open swimmers if the NSWIS team under Adam Kable are swimming out of there also. Surely all the open age (who don’t pack up and head to QLD) will swim with the NSWIS program, not the club program,
Is he? Last I heard he was at Rackley. I’ve not been trying to follow though. Is he still working for an Australian club?
The other Matt Brown is (imo obviously) the best swim coach in Australia.
That Matt Brown is currently in China coaching. Had been for the last few months
He was replaced by Tracey Menzies at Rackley.
That’s a tremendous downgrade.
See you at QLD States next week.
I’m talking about QLD Matt Brown.
And it’s a subjective opinion, but my opinion nonetheless.
Brothers under Matt Brown was my favorite age group program in Australia, didn’t have the numbers a club like St Peter’s did, but all the swimmers they did have absolutely kicked ass.
Haha this must be “Chicken Man”. Certainly was a good time at Nudgee from 2002-2015
I’m over in China at the Nanjing Sports Institute atm coming back for camps in QLD regularly