King of the water: Hoffman was record-breaking swimmer at Belle Vernon, Florida State
Submitted photo
Belle Vernon’s Brad Hoffman stands atop the podium after winning one of his two PIAA gold medals in the 200 individual medley.
Submitted photo
Brad Hoffman is shown during his swimming days at Belle Vernon Area High School.
Former Belle Vernon Leopard Brad Hoffman is one of the premiere swimmers ever produced in the Western Pennsylvania.
Hoffman started in athletics at an early age.
“I started out swimming at Crystal Pool in Fayette City,” Hoffman stated. “My sisters had both joined the Belle Vernon Swim Club and so I did. We had a pool in the backyard and I was always active, so it was something I started doing and at a young age I excelled at it.
“I was kept active at other things like baseball, basketball, and volleyball, but I was really good at swimming. I kept going and kept working at it. I realized while I was good at the other sports swimming was what I excelled at the most. I played baseball till I was 14. I played high school volleyball in the spring because that was kind of a down time for swimming. I could tell that swimming was the sport that I was going to make my mark in.”
Hoffman made a splash at a young age. At the age of 8, Brad’s swimming career was launched by capturing the High Point trophy at the Mountaineer Invitational in Morgantown, West Virginia. Through the next few years, Hoffman honed his skills through practices and participating in local club and United States Swimming sponsored meets.
Hoffman competed at age 11 in his first Eastern Zone Meet where he swam against the best US age group swimmers from Maine to Virginia. Hoffman would go on to compete in three Eastern Zone Meets, once as an 11-12 year old, once as a 13-14 year old, where he made two championship finals, finishing seventh in the 400 IM and eighth in the 200 back, and as his second meet in the 15-18 year old age group where he nearly won the 200 back finishing second with a fifth in the 400 IM and a 10th in the 200 IM.
“I went to clinics and camps,” Hoffman said. “In high school I went to the University of Alabama where Don Gable was the US swimming coach. I got to swim with John Olson, the American record holder in the 100 free and won gold medals at Olympics in the relay events, so that was a nice thing to do.”
He entered Belle Vernon High School with huge expectations.
“I just tried to keep to myself and not try and put too much pressure on myself,” Hoffman stated. “I didn’t try to standout, I tried to be part of the team and just tried to fit in and work hard and keep swimming.”
Rich Schilling was the coach at Belle Vernon when Hoffman started his career and then Karen Supra took over.
Hoffman made his mark on Belle Vernon swimming right away.
In Hoffman’s first dual meet he set two school records, winning the 200 IM and taking second in the 500 free. That second in the 500 free was the only time that Hoffman lost an individual event in dual meet competition his entire high school career. At the end of his freshman year, Hoffman became the first Belle Vernon swimmer to qualify in the PIAA state meet by taking fifth in the 100 back and narrowly missing qualifying in the 200 IM by placing seventh at WPIAL. He finished his freshman season by breaking four of the nine individual records.
“It was a great experience to come out in your first meet and perform and show what kind of swimmer you were,” Hoffman said.
In his sophomore year, Hoffman continued to improve and made the PIAA state meet in both the 200 IM and 100 back by placing second in the 200 IM and third in the 100 back at the WPIAL meet. At the PIAA meet, Hoffman became the first Mon Valley swimmer to place at states by finishing eighth in both events.
“It was surprising at first to find out I was the first to place,” Hoffman said. “There were other swimmers out of Belle Vernon. They only had one classification when I was swimming. They have two now and that might have been a factor.”
The 6-foot-1, 165-pound Hoffman’s junior year became his breakout season. After another outstanding dual meet season and setting school records in more events, Hoffman won the WPIAL title in both the 200 IM and 100 back, setting a WPIAL record in the former and defeating the defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Tom Hay of Peters Township in the latter. Hoffman continued his success by winning the PIAA state title in the 200 IM and finishing second in the 100 back. For his performances at the PIAA state meet he was listed as a High School All-American for his performance in the 100 back.
“My junior year was a breakout,” Hoffman offered. “Especially my WPIAL meet and beating Tom Hay. The All-American recognition was quite a thrill.”
As a senior Hoffman moved from the hunter to the hunted. Despite the pressure, Brad successfully defended his WPIAL titles in the 200 IM and 100 back. At the state meet, Hoffman not only successfully defended his PIAA state title in the 200 IM but also copped the PIAA state title in the 100 back. He was listed as a High School All-American in the 100 back, but also added an Honorable Mention All-American in the 200 IM.
At the end of his high school career, Hoffman had literally re-written the Belle Vernon High School record book by holding the school record in every individual swimming event. Many of those records have been eclipsed.
“People looked at me as the guy they had to take down,” Hoffman recalled. “I had to be ready to swim. The records were great and it is kind of amazing that I still have some records.”
Hoffman also made a splash on the national scene. In his sophomore year he qualified for the United State Swimming Junior Nationals. Hoffman swam in six Junior National meets, qualifying in all strokes except breaststroke. He competed in 20 events and made either the championship or consolation finals 14 times, highlighted by four top-four finishes.
After graduating from Belle Vernon in 1990 Hoffman sifted through many college offers and chose to swim at Florida State.
“I liked Florida State,” Hoffman said. “It was a good fit.”
Hoffman was able to stand out by being a versatile member for the Seminoles by swimming a number of different events during the dual meet season. At the Metro Conference championships, Hoffman placed in the top eight in all three individual events he swam including a second place in the 200 back, narrowly missing the Florida State school record.
The next season, Florida State moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Hoffman continued to thrive by having a tremendous dual meet season which was highlighted by individual wins against national powers against swimmers from LSU and Florida. At the ACC championship meet, Hoffman finished in the top 10 in three events, including a third in the 200 back. He also broke the Florida State school record in the 200 back and 400 IM that season. Hoffman was named team MVP by the coaches.
In his final two seasons, Hoffman had set backs with injuries but was still able to produce top-10 finishes in all three individual events at the ACC Championships, helping the Seminoles to continue to improve in the team standings from a fifth in 1992 to a fourth in 1993 to third in his final season in 1994.
“I was happy with my career,” Hoffman said. “Injuries slowed me down a little, but I was pleased.”
Even though he doesn’t swim competitively, Hoffman still swims with a group of former competitive swimmers and competing tri-athletes to stay in shape.
Hoffman worked as a software engineer for Raytheon Technologies for five years and for the past 20 years he has been with Leidos Engineering Company.
Now 50 years old, Hoffman resides in Seminole, Florida, with his wife Deyon. They have four children, Colby, Peyton, Kendall, and Addyson.
George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” column appears in the Sunday editions of the Herald-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.