Soccer, Swimming
Favorite athlete: Ander Herrera – Midfielder Manchester United
Favorite team: Manchester United
Favorite memory competing in sports: Reaching the state competition and medaling last year in swimming, and the first game back (in soccer) after a concussion with a shutout win against Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: The first time I ever swam the 500, my counter made me do an extra 50 even though I was already in last place.
Music on iPod: Boston, The Gorrilaz, Led Zeppelin
Future plans: College, Engineering degree
Words to live by: “Forever United”
One goal before turning 30: Travel to at least five countries
One thing people don’t know about me: I love History.
By Craig Ostroff
Some captains lead by example. Others take the role of the vocal spark plug, encouraging teammates in practice and firing them up during competition.
Upper Moreland senior Brennan Coleman sees himself as a little of both. The two-year captain of the Golden Bears’ boys’ swim team is often the first one in the pool at practice and one of the hardest, most consistent workers. And when he’s not underwater, Coleman’s mouth is usually in motion.
“I’m a loud person,” Coleman said with a laugh. “I won’t scream and yell at the team. But I will scream and yell for the team.
“I always try to be one of first ones in the pool, and I put in as much work as I want others to put in. I want the other kids to see what they can do and what they should be doing. I think having guys who work hard in the pool and put forward that example definitely helps the team improve.”
But Coleman possesses an additional leadership trait that makes his contributions immeasurable. Coleman is able to achieve personal successes—and there have been many—and use them to help make those around him better.
His coach defines that trait in one word—maturity.
“Brennan is mature beyond his years,” said coach Jess Healy. “He communicates well, I always know what’s going on with him. I never have to worry about him or whether he’s doing what he needs to be doing in the pool.”
Healy points to Coleman’s stellar junior campaign—which culminated in his 400 free relay team earning the gold medal at the District One Championships and sixth place at the PIAA State Championship meet—as helping Coleman become a better swimmer, teammate, and leader.
“Even back in his sophomore year, we started seeing that leadership emerging, and we held him to a little bit of a higher standard because of that, and it helped him grow into a leader,” Healy said. “He was a captain as a junior, and now as a senior, he’s going above and beyond.
“I think the end of last year really helped Brennan. Having that success at districts and seeing the state meet and participating and earning a medal, it really lit a fire under him. And because of his maturity, that fire isn’t just him making sure he’s doing what he can do, but making sure those around him are doing what they need to do to get to districts, to states. He’s trying to push himself and everyone around him to get to that spot.”
That’s crucial this year since Upper Moreland has moved up from Class AA to Class AAA. For Coleman—who was named team MVP last season for his work ethic and contributions in the pool—that’s more pressure, but it’s a challenge he and his fellow seniors are looking forward to meeting.
“I was a captain last year with seniors,” Coleman said. “They really inspired me to leave something behind, to show the younger kids what I saw in the seniors my freshman year, show them things that those seniors showed me that pushed me. Maybe it’s not a legacy of times, but just to leave something with the team and coaches—that work ethic and to work with the team to be the best we can.
“We have three returning seniors who have been to districts and states. Just being able to compete at states is fantastic, as is districts. To be able to place in the finals (at states) is something I want to get back to, but I want these kids coming up to participate in that as well, to have that experience for themselves. When you know what it takes to get to districts and beyond, you want to push those guys even harder because you know what it takes and you know what it means to get there.”
Coleman also knows that it takes more than hard work and dedication to achieve those goals. Every once in a while, you have to take it easy and have some fun as well. And Coleman has been integral in making sure there are lighter moments among the team members.
During practice, Coleman will answer a Science Question of the Day, usually posited by Healy, but often bringing other team members—and members of the girls’ swim team—into the fray.
“I’m definitely inclined toward science,” Coleman said. “Coach is very smart, but when she starts thinking about things, she really gets into it and wants to know how things work. She’ll come in with a new question asking how something works. I like being able to explain things like that. It’s fun to baffle people with how much you know. And the kids in the different lanes want to know what’s going on, and they start asking follow-up questions. It’s a fun thing.
“I don’t get stumped very often.” (That sounds like a challenge, Golden Bear swimmers.)
Coleman also ensures that bus rides back from away meets are always memorable. Though he’s quick to point out that he can’t take credit for the idea, bus rides feature music, a speaker, and requests from team members to get the group singing and get the bus a-rockin’ on the way back to school. As many of the dual meets are held on Fridays, the team has dubbed the musical rides “Funky Fridays.”
“To me, this is about bringing everyone on the team together,” Coleman said. “For me, this leaves a good memory. But it’s also really important, especially for guys that maybe don’t see a lot of action in the meets. They’re just as much a part of the team as anyone else, and you don’t ever want them to feel pushed aside. I think it’s so important to have team bonding, even if it’s something like this that might seem silly. I think it helps. Our team morale is phenomenal.”
Another thing Coleman enjoys about swim season—very few bumps and bruises. A goalkeeper on the Golden Bears’ soccer squad, Coleman has suffered a pair of serious injuries on the pitch.
Toward the end of his sophomore season, while on the junior varsity team, Coleman suffered an aversion fracture of the right femur, in which part of the muscle tore off the bone. Though he was unable to get into the pool until mid-January or compete until mid-February, he still medaled at the District One Championship meet.
“That was something that affected me a lot,” he said. “I had to put in a lot of work if I wanted to get back to swimming. I did PT several times a week, went to practices and did upper arm work as much as I could. I was on the leash once back in the pool, but it helped build a better work ethic in me.
“To go from not being able to walk up a flight of stairs to swimming my best time in my events, it gave me a new appreciation for the people I had around me—coaches, teammates, family, who helped me get back to where I was.”
This year, Coleman missed about six weeks of his final high school soccer season after being kicked in the face and suffering an impact seizure and concussion. He credits Upper Moreland athletic trainer Jackie Barainyak for her hard work and her help. And though he wore a helmet upon his return to the cage, Coleman said the injury did not hamper his aggressive goalkeeping style.
He said he feels no lingering effects from the concussion. And that’s important not just for athletics, but also because Coleman is among the top students in his class, and is taking five AP classes this year.
He is also a member of the high school’s Key Club and National Honor Society, and he served as co-Head of External Communications for Upper Moreland’s recent Mini-THON event.
Volunteer work and giving back to his community is nothing new for Coleman. In addition to the community involvement that is part of Key Club and NHS, Coleman recently became an Eagle Scout, the highest advancement rank in scouting.
For his Eagle Project, Coleman—along with members of his troop and their family members—built and installed 10 new benches at Carson Simpson Farm and cleared and lined three of the camp’s trails.
“I went to summer camp there,” Coleman said. “We came out on the weekend, put the benches together with lots of help from the troop, and my grandfather, who’s a great handyman.
“Being able to do work to help a good cause is something I really believe in strongly. I love to do that, I’m happy to volunteer wherever possible, whether it’s physically helping or running a committee or just being there for people. Whatever I can do to help those who are trying to help others is more than satisfying.”
Right now, however, Coleman is focused on helping his teammates improve their times and find success in dual meets, SOLs, districts, and states.
“I want to get as many people as far as possible,” said Coleman, who is looking to study chemical or mechanical engineering in college, though he’s still undecided as to where. “I want to see everyone excel any way they can.
“As for me, I’d love be remembered on a team, maybe on a relay that medals at districts. Being on a relay is amazing because you have an individual achievement with your leg of the relay, but you’re working for the other people, swimming for the guy before me and after me. I want to be remembered as someone who was a team player and who did for his teammates as much as he could.”
Ask his coach, and she’ll tell you there’s no doubt that Coleman will be remembered for both his performance in the pool and his inspiration for the underclassmen.
“Brennan keeps growing as a person and as a swimmer,” Healy said. “I don’t know where the ceiling is for him. He’s had the best practice season he’s had in all four years he’s been here. Given how well he’s done in the past, that’s not something I would have thought he could have done, but it’s crazy to think how far he’s come and how much more he still could accomplish this season.”
