Former Army Head Coach Brandt Nigro Named New Affiliate Head Coach of Texas Women’s Workforce

The University of Texas has introduced Brandt Nigro as its new affiliate head coach of the ladies’s swimming and diving program, becoming a member of the Longhorns after a seven-year run as the pinnacle coach at Army West Point.

Nigro takes over the position beforehand held by Mitch Dalton, who left his position because the Texas girls’s affiliate head coach final month to take over as the pinnacle coach at Brown.

Like Dalton, Nigro will work underneath Carol Capitani, who has served as the pinnacle coach of the Texas girls’s staff for 14 years. The Longhorns have persistently been one of many high groups within the nation underneath Capitani’s watch, significantly lately, as they’ve completed both 2nd or third on the Women’s NCAA Championships in six straight seasons.

“Brandt is an exceptional fit for Texas,” stated Texas Women’s Swimming Head Coach Carol Capitani. “His most up-to-date expertise as Head Coach at Army West Point and at NC State brings fast depth and credibility to our workers.

“Brandt’s energy, investment in his athletes, and his clear understanding of what it means to compete and succeed at this level made him a standout throughout this process. I’m looking forward to working together and continuing the sustained excellence that is Texas Swimming and Diving.”

Nigro heads to Austin after spending the previous seven seasons main Army, guiding the Black Knights’ program to new heights alongside the way in which.

During the 2025-26 season, he coached three feminine swimmers, Catriona Gilmore, Molly Webber and Angie McKane, to qualify for the NCAA Championships, marking the primary three girls to qualify for the meet since Army started competing in Division I in 1991. The Army girls went 9-1 in twin meets and have been the runners-up on the Patriot League Championships for the fourth straight season in 2025-26.

On the lads’s facet, Nigro coached Johnny Crush to a fifth-place end within the 100 backstroke on the 2026 NCAA Championships, setting a brand new program file of 43.84, tying him for eighth all-time amongst Americans.

In 2025, Nigro led the Army males to their first Patriot League title since 2001, and the Black Knights additionally earned their first sweep over Navy since 1988.

During the 2023-24 season, Army swimmers set program information in 26 out of a doable 44 occasions in the course of the season, and Kohen Rankin grew to become the primary Army swimmer to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 1987 when he made the minimize within the males’s 100 and 200 breaststroke.

Nigro thanked Army West Point in a press launch issued Monday saying that he accepted a job at Texas.

“I would like to thank Director of Athletics, Tom Theodorakis, Superintendent Steven Gilland, and everyone at West Point for their support over the last seven years,” Nigro stated. “It has been my nice honor to guide Army Swimming & Diving via so many unimaginable moments and to work with such devoted cadet-athletes. Together, we achieved NCAA appearances, convention championships, and way more.

“I will be proud of the progress and success we achieved as a program for the rest of my life. Thank you to the Army Swimming & Diving family for welcoming my family and me so genuinely.  We will carry these memories and relationships with us into this next chapter of our lives.”

Prior to Army, Nigro served as an assistant coach at NC State for 2 years (2017-19), primarily working with the dash freestyle and stroke teams whereas additionally helping with recruiting. He additionally frolicked teaching with Wolfpack Elite, working with elite worldwide sprinters similar to Cullen Jones, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Simonas Bilis and Christopher Reid.

Nigro additionally served as an assistant at Marshall University for one season (2016-17), and spent two years on workers at UMBC as the pinnacle coach of the membership staff, Retriever Aquatic Club, whereas additionally serving as an assistant aquatics director.

He started his collegiate teaching profession as a volunteer assistant at Wesleyan University for one season in 2013-14.

Prior to becoming a member of the collegiate ranks, Nigro served as the pinnacle junior coach with the Cheshire YMCA Sea Dog Swim Club whereas additionally serving as the pinnacle coach at Brookfield High School in Connecticut.

A Bristol, Conn., native, he swam one yr on the University of Connecticut earlier than transferring to the College of Charleston, the place he received a convention title as a member of the lads’s 200 and 400 medley relay groups and was named to the Southern State all-conference and all-academic groups.

Army introduced that Kelly Lennon has been named the interim head coach because it begins a nationwide seek for a brand new full-time head coach. Lennon has been at West Point for the previous 5 seasons, together with the final two as an affiliate head coach for the ladies’s staff.