Oct. 30, 2008
COLUMBIA – South Carolina swimming and diving welcomed one of its most celebrated athletes back into the fold this month with the hiring of Allison Brennan as assistant coach. Brennan, who competed for the Gamecocks from 2001-2006, will assist Todd Sherritt in coaching the Gamecock diving team.
Brennan won the first and only NCAA Championship by a South Carolina individual as she captured the 2004 NCAA crown in the one-meter event. A South Carolina Hall-of-Famer, she earned four All-America certificates in her Carolina career, which ranks her among the university’s most decorated athletes.
Most recently, Brennan finished third at the 2008 Olympic Trials and was an alternate for the United States Olympic Team for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. A force at the national and international level, she finished fourth at the U.S. Diving Grand Prix in the three-meter event, third at U.S. Nationals in three-meter, and sixth at the 2007 World Championships in the one-meter. She has also recorded several other top finishes internationally, including top 10 efforts at the China Grand Prix and the Rome Grand Prix.
An experimental psychology major from Huntington Beach, Calif., Brennan was named the University of South Carolina Female Athlete of the Year in 2006 after capturing runner-up honors at the NCAA Championships in the one-meter competition. She was also named SEC Diver of the Year that season after winning the conference title in both the one- and three-meter events.
The 2004 season was a banner year for Brennan. Not only did she capture South Carolina’s first NCAA Championship in the sport, she also won the U.S. Diving National Championship in the three-meter competition. She was a finalist at the SEC Championships each year from 2002-2004.
Prior to her time at South Carolina, she was a high school All-American at Edison High School in California where she won two straight California Interscholastic Federation championships.
Brennan has coached alongside another Gamecock All-American, Brandon Hulko, for the South Carolina Divers club team for the last two years. She also served as a volunteer coach for her high school team after graduation.
