Claire Brandt
Born July 22, 1994 in Dallas, Texas Claire Brandt is a backstroke and freestyle swimmer at Texas A&M. Brandt is a junior at A&M, and her favorite aspect of training is kicking – she’s also majoring in Chemistry. After graduating from Greenhill School as its three-time MVP, Brandt enrolled at A&M and has competed at both the SEC Championships and qualified for the NCAA Championships. She swam competitively for the Dallas Mustangs, where she trained to qualify for the Junior National and National Championships, as well as the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. According to collegeswimming.com’s recruiting rankings, Brandt was the no. 63 recruit in the class of 2012. She chose to be an Aggie for its excellence in both athletics and academics, and she felt that the university has strong tradition. In her phenomenal recruiting class, A&M signed five of the year’s top 100 recruits. Growing up in Texas, Brandt is naturally a country music fan.
Texas A&M
2012-2013
As a freshman Brandt had a great first year. She scored more than 40 individual points at the SEC Championships – she Brandt competed in the 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke, which she earned an NCAA ‘B’ cut in all three.
2013-2014
Brandt broke into the Aggie top 10 list in the 100 backstroke for the first time in her career. She finished ninth in both the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke at the SEC Championships, and qualified for the NCAA Championships, swimming all three events.
2014-2015
Brandt is currently in her junior season as an Aggie. At the SEC Championships she finished 24th in the 50 freestyle, 15th in the 100 backstroke and 15th in the 200 backstroke. She qualified for the NCAA Championships, finishing 33rd in the 200 backstroke, 39th in the 100 backstroke and 46th in the 50 freestyle.
National Competition
Brandt qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 200m backstroke, finishing 86th, and the 50m freestyle, finishing 112th. She was the 2011 Short Course Junior National champion in the 50 freestyle, and was her high school’s three-time MVP. Brandt was also a high school All-American.