Longhorn Hall of Honor: Brendan Hansen

Brendan Hansen is one of the most accomplished swimmers to compete for The University of Texas. He's a three-time Olympic gold medalist, former world record holder, 13-time NCAA champion, and, while swimming for the Longhorns from 2001-2004, he helped lead Texas to two NCAA team titles.

Yet, Hansen is quick to credit his teammates for putting him in positions to succeed.

"I swam with a lot of guys at Texas that had those same aspirations and goals, and we built momentum through the season to get to those points," said Hansen, the first men's swimmer to sweep the 100 and 200 breaststroke events at four consecutive NCAA Championship meets. "Those guys really pushed me. I know I'm the only one standing on those blocks when I swim those races, but truly, I was just trying to stay up with my other teammates.

"We don't realize it until we look back on it how crazy it was that it was almost the norm for us to go to a swim meet and say to each other, 'If you don't break a world record, I'm going to do it then.' It was a really special time to be a part of the program."

The coach responsible for developing this talent-filled team into national contenders every year had a great relationship with Hansen, and they remain close to this day.

"Eddie Reese is one of the biggest reasons I moved to Texas. You know that when you go to college, you're going to go there for four years and you're going to swim for that coach. I realized so fast with my relationship with Eddie that it was going to go well past those four years," Hansen said. "We go to lunch once a week now. He's just been such a completely different figure than just a swim coach for me. After you're done competing for the university, he's still there for you. I think that's one of the many reasons that have made him so successful in his career. At the age of eighteen, to make this big decision of where to go to school, I clearly made the right one."

The tradition and expectations that come with Texas Swimming prepared Hansen for success against international competition as well. After winning gold medals in the 400 medley relay in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, Hansen retired before returning to the pool to claim his third straight gold in the same event in the 2012 London Olympics.

"Any time you step away from a situation and then come back to it, you have a different kind of appreciation for it," Hansen said. "The overwhelming sense of appreciation that I had for every aspect of the sport, from the preparation, to the day-in and day-out, to the thousands upon thousands of yards, just really helped make the experience that much better. Looking back on all three Olympics, that Olympics was my favorite because of my ability to really enjoy and appreciate every aspect of the journey more so than the two Olympics before that."

However, the moment that truly sticks out in Hansen's mind came at a much younger age.

"The biggest highlight of my career has to be the 2004 Olympic Trials," he said. "The trials before that, I missed making the Olympic team. Then not even coming in a favorite for the events and breaking both the world records and building that platform for the next eight years as the premier breaststroker for the U.S. really catapulted my career. I came off of the failure of 2000, and used that as motivation the next four years to basically have one of the best trials any swimmer has had to that point from where I was seeded to coming out number one in the world. That really changed my life forever."

Today, Hansen enjoys his role as a family man as well as the general manager of aquatics operations at the Austin Aquatics and Sports Academy. Hansen is the head coach of the Austin Swim Club.

"The way I approach every day life tasks like being a dad and work that I do now, I approach it the same way I did when I was preparing for any one of my events or seasons," he said.

This approach will help Hansen continue making an impact on many lives within the Austin community.

"I just want to build something that I'm really proud of and be effective with the kids who are a part of the team," he said. "I've gone from student to teacher and that has really allowed me to enjoy staying in the sport and using what I learned to give back. I just try to make everyone's life that I can have the chance to change better and do it in the best way that I know possible, which is through the sport of swimming. And my job allows me to do what I love so I can't ask for much more right now."

Day of Distinction: 2015 Men's and Women's Hall of Honor Induction

Please join Texas Athletics as we induct 13 decorated and distinguished former University of Texas student-athletes and staff into the Men's and Women's Athletics Halls of Honor on Friday, Sept. 25

Tickets start at $35. To purchase, or if you have additional questions, please call (512) 232-4422.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics