Braden Holloway - Head Coach - Swimming Coaches - NC State University Athletics

Braden Holloway

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
bchollo2@ncsu.edu
Phone:
(919) 515-2849

- 5x ACC Men’s Coach of the Year (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
- 2017 ACC Women’s Coach of the Year
- 4 NCAA Relay Champions
- 3 NCAA Individual Champions
- 228 All-America selections
- 43 ACC Individual Champions
- 32 ACC Relay Champions
- Career Record at NC State: 75-32-1 [Men: 41-14-1 | Women: 44-22]
- Completed Seasons at NC State: 7

Braden Holloway, a five-time All-American and 2001 graduate of NC State, was named head coach of the Wolfpack swimming & diving program on June 29, 2011 by Director of Athletics Deborah A. Yow.

Since being named to the position, Holloway’s tenure has been full of success. Holloway captured the 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men’s Coach of the Year honors, as well as the 2017 ACC Women’s Coach of the Year honor. He has coached the Wolfpack to 246 All-ACC performances, 228 All-America performances, 43 ACC individual titles, and 32 ACC relay gold medals.

Holloway’s program has also thrived in the classroom, as he has seen 122 ACC Honor Roll selections and 84 student-athletes named to the All-ACC Academic Team. He has also seen two members of his teams earn CoSIDA Academic All-District Team status, three be named ACC Scholar-Athletes of the Year, and one receive the National Academic Momentum Award.

The 2017-18 season was highlighted by NC State’s first NCAA Individual Swimming Champion since 2006 as Coleman Stewart won the 100 backstroke at the national meet. Anton Ipsen (1,650 freestyle) and Andreas Vazaios (200 butterfly) also captured first-place finishes at the 2018 NCAA Championships, giving the Pack three individual titles for the first time in program history. The Wolfpack’s relay teams set NCAA, U.S. Open, and American records to win both the 800 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay. The five titles and 31 All-America performances led NC State’s men to their third straight fourth-place finish. The finish capped off another successful season during which the Wolfpack men became ACC Champions for the fourth year in a row, led by ACC Most Valuable Swimmer Ryan Held and ACC Men’s Swimmer of the Year Andreas Vazaios. The Wolfpack won four of the five relay events and 10 of 13 individual races.

The Wolfpack women earned All-America honors four times during the 2017-18 season, placing 18th at the 2018 NCAA Championships for their fifth straight top-20 finish. At the conference level, NC State finished third at the ACC Championships with 12 podium finishes and two program records set at the conference meet.

Holloway led NC State to what could be considered one of the most successful combined seasons in program history in 2016-17 as he coached both the men and the women to ACC team titles. The championship win was the third in a row for the men and the women’s first since 1980. The Wolfpack women went on to earn their highest finish in program history at the NCAA Championships, ending the season by placing seventh with 25 All-America honors and a national runner-up finish from Alexia Zevnik in the 200 backstroke. The men won a national title in the 800 freestyle relay and saw 11 swimmers collect 35 All-America honors.

NC State has enjoyed tremendous success throughout Holloway’s career, beginning with his inaugural season in 2011-12. By the 2012-13 campaign, Holloway had earned the first conference Coach of the Year honors of his Wolfpack career and led the men to the highest finish since the 1978-79 season. In 2013-14, both the Wolfpack’s men’s and women’s squads finished in the top 16 at the NCAA Championships for the first time in NC State history.

The 2014-15 campaign saw Holloway and his staff guide the men’s team to an undefeated regular season and its 25th ACC Championship title. Both the men and the women finished in the top 20 of the national rankings, marking the first time in program history that both squads earned back-to-back top 20 finishes. The first national title of Holloway’s career came in 2015-16 with the men winning the 400 freestyle relay at the NCAA Championships. That season, he won ACC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year for the third time in five years.

Prior to returning to his alma mater, Holloway spent seven seasons on the coaching staff at Virginia Tech, serving as associate head coach from 2008 until his arrival at NC State. His tenacity as recruiting coordinator helped revitalize the Hokies program, as his 2009-10 men’s and women’s singing classes were both nationally ranked by CollegeSwimming.com, a first for the program.

Holloway was an assistant coach at The University of the South from 20013-04. During that stint, he coached Matthew Martelli to All-America honors, while seven student-athletes won individual titles.

Holloway enjoyed an illustrious collegiate career at NC State. He lettered with the Wolfpack from 1998 to 2001, winning back-to-back ACC titles in the 100 backstroke in 2000 and 2001. He collected All-ACC honors all four years of his career and set an ACC record. A five-time All-American, he was ranked internationally in backstroke events and was an Olympic Trials qualifier for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Team in 2002 to be honored as one of the conference’s top swimmers.

A two-time Academic All-American, Holloway graduated from NC State in 2001 with a degree in parks, recreation and tourism management, serving as the commencement speaker for the College of Natural Resources. He completed his master’s degree in education at Virginia Tech in the summer of 2007.

A native of Baton Rouge, La., Holloway is married to former NC State swimmer Mary Mittendorf. The Holloways have four children – daughter Blyth Marie, son Ethan Robert, daughter Brynn Elizabeth, and son Holden Jon.