Good Morning, Here's a year-end update from Coach Burandt
Happy Holiday’s from my warm office next to the pool deck in Cleveland, Ohio; where it is NOT warm. This first semester was truly something very special and I will do my best to sum up the past 6 months as best as I can…To say that I am having the time of my life as the new head coach of our program is truly an understatement.
August & September: The very first task was to find (and KEEP) the very best people I could to join our program. Let me introduce you to my DREAM TEAM.

Rich Karban, as we all know is the best diving coach we could ever have for our program! He is so passionate about developing our kids (yes kids, even though they are college “adults” I call them kids) as people, students, and lastly as divers. He LOVES CSU and loves diving. I’m not sure he knows how often I observe his coaching and interactions with the divers with admiration and pride. He is a phenomenal teacher, mentor, role model, and all around great human being.

Ben Colley was my first hire as he came HIGHLY recommended from a Big 10 coach I respect and who understands how crucial it is to find the right people when first joining a program. Ben swam and graduated from UNC in 2016 (and still holds the record for the 200 butterfly). He made his way up to SUNY Courtland for his master’s degree in Sport Administration while serving as a Graduate Assistant Coach. I snatched him up as fast as I could after our first phone call. Ben is wise beyond his years, has the calmest disposition I’ve ever been around, and has some amazing gifts as a coach that you can’t teach. The team has declared that Ben is the hardest practice writer on staff. 

Pieter Ritz is back HOME after spending the past four seasons at Cincinnati where he helped coach their men to become conference champions (during the same time I was coaching the Houston women to become champions). Pieter brings to our program experience, success, insights, and amazing strengths that balance out myself and Ben. Pieter LOVES CSU, Cleveland, and cares so much about the success of our program as a whole and each and every individual in it. If you ever come visit us in our offices you’ll find sticky notes around the door for all of the movies Pieter is disappointed in me for not seeing. I love it when Pieter brings his perspective from his film background in how he writes and coaches.
October: We moved into our Wally Morton Locker rooms and celebrated the renovation with a beautiful ribbon cutting ceremony and dedication. Our President Harlan Sands gave a riveting speech, as did our Athletic Director Scott Garrett. Bill Dorenkott gave a speech from Columbus. I shared my sentiments that we now have a home that we are proud to live in, to make memories in, that we can make the most of the present and will be a part of a better future. The team cannot thank every single person enough for their support and love the connection to our heritage on each and every locker!
The TEAM! We hit the ground running (LITERALLY). The second day of school we ran down to the Cleveland Sign and took our first team photo. The first weekend of school we brought in Chris DeSantis to work with our program. Chris has his master’s in Applied Positive Psychology and is a consultant for many high level Division 1 swim and dive programs. He helped our team talk through our past, establish where we are now, and our hopes, obstacles, and plans for the future. He supported us at our Magnus Cup Invitational and will be returning for our New Year’s Eve celebration to help us move forward into a new decade with focus and confidence. Chris is truly a crucial component of our program! He is working with us on various skills such as communication, how to deal with adversity, how to support one another, how to healthfully deal with conflict, and how to overcome race anxiety. He is also helping me develop my staff with their coaching strengths and weaknesses. I just recently did a podcast with Chris, if you’d like to listen you can learn more about my journey to CSU, what we are doing with team, and my perspectives and value of mental health and team culture. Give it a listen! http://chrisdcoach.com/podcasts
Competition: We started the season with our Green and White Intersquad Meet. The team had NO CLUE what to expect and were surprised with how fast they swam. Can you believe that Scott Garrett was on deck at it?? We had so much support from our department and from our friends and family!!   Akron Zips: We went down to Akron for our first meet. We trained HARD that week and did not let up. We were sore, tired, and wearing practice suits whereas the other teams looked rested and were wearing tech suits. I was proud of our grit and team comradery. We showed up and faced adversity and did not get defeated.  Wisconsin: Our next meet was a long road trip up to Wisconsin Green Bay and Milwaukee. We viewed this another opportunity to face adversity. Our men came out with the win against Milwaukee and our women snuck out a super duper close win against Green Bay.  Magnus Invitational: I do not have the space to tell you how wonderful Magnus was. The energy was at an all-time high. We had ALL season best times, broke 2-school records, and had swims that beat individual performances from conference last year. We began a new school tradition of the “Magnus Chain”--- when a swimmer or diver does something “chain worthy” they get to wear the chain. I lost count of how many people proudly wore the chain on deck. The team LOVED the idea and we cannot wait to continue building on this tradition.
What’s Next? The team wrapped up finals on December 14. The Diver’s stuck around Cleveland this past week training. The Swimmer’s will return to Cleveland on December 30 th for our “Training Staycation” in Cleveland and the Divers will return on Jan 3 rd . 

Upcoming Meets: Jan 7 home against Miami at 1 pm. Jan 10-11 at UIC with IUPUI. Jan 24 at Michigan State. Jan 25 at Oakland. Feb 1 SENIOR RECOGNITION home against Kenyon. February 19-22: Horizon League Championships at Oakland.  We will also be hosting the NIC meet again in March!
We have A LOT to look forward to and much to share with ya’ll in the new year. Don’t hesitate to reach out directly to me ( h.burandt@csuohio.edu ) to share your history and story, just to chat/visit, or learn more about our present and future. We wouldn’t be where we are today if it weren’t for YOU!  - - - Hannah
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