Brian Pearson enters his sixth season as the head coach of the CSU-Pueblo swimming & diving team. The former Colorado Mesa head swimming & diving coach was named the first head coach in CSU-Pueblo swimming & diving history in January 2014.
Pearson produced his first NCAA Individual Qualifier in 2017 when diver Stefany Busch competed at the one mete height. Busch placed 36th at the event.
Emily Foster and Arianna Rohde have both been named First Team Academic All-RMAC. Rohde was also selected CoSIDA Academic All-District in 2018.
On Dec. 5, 2015 Pearson's ThunderWolves earned their first dual win with a 132-126 victory over Adams State. The Pack has since earned 11 dual wins, nine of which have come against RMAC opponents.
In the ThunderWolves' first season of competition, Pearson coached a pair of swimmers to RMAC All-Conference accolades. Samantha Sannes was tabbed to the all-conference first team in the 1650 free, while fellow freshman April McDonough garnered a second-team nod in the 500 free.
In 2016, the ThunderWolves also had their first RMAC Swimmer of the Week. They also finished 6th at the RMAC Championships.
One year later, the Pack again placed sixth at the RMAC Championships. They also saw Busch become the Pack's first NCAA qualifier.
During the 2018-19 season, Madison Ortega became the first ThunderWolf to earn RMAC Diver of the Week honors. The ThunderWolves scored a program-record 324 points at the RMAC Championships. Pearson's Pack also earned Scholar All-American Team accolades from the CSCAA.
In 2019-20, Pearson coached the Pack to its first win over Colorado College. Pearson's relay teams set school records in every freestyle distance.
Pearson has produced seven RMAC Swimmers of the Week and two RMAC Divers of the Week. He has also landed 14 student athletes on the RMAC's All-Academic Honor Roll.
A Pueblo native, Pearson came to CSU-Pueblo with a total of 15 seasons of experience as a head swimming and diving coach at the collegiate level, having directed the swim programs at Colorado College (1998-2006) and most recently, Colorado Mesa (2006-12). Â Most recently, he served as the coach of Maverick Aquatics, a college club swim program in Grand Junction.
During his collegiate coaching career, his athletes have captured over 1,000 school records at their respective institutions. Â The 2009 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year, Pearson has coached a total of nine All-Americans, 68 NCAA qualifiers and 104 conference champions. Â
In 2006, Pearson was tasked with forging the new swimming program at Colorado Mesa University, and quickly recruited Division II's largest team, consisting of 28 women's and 43 men's student-athletes. Â Pearson eventually coached the Mavericks to a high-ranking of 12th in the nation, reached in his final season in 2012. Â
Pearson, who competed at Pueblo Central High School, began swimming at the age of four. Developing into a high school All-American, two-time Colorado state high school champion, two-time junior national champion and record holder with three long-course times that remained in the Nation's Top 100 for over a decade.  As a result as an 18 year old he was ranked top ten in the world in 1983.
Brian continued his swimming success at the University of Missouri and the University of Wyoming, where he was a Big Eight champion; two-time Western Athletic Conference Champion, NCAA qualifier, USS national's finalist and Olympic hopeful in two events.
Since his collegiate coaching career began in 1989, Pearson has received five College Swimming Coaches Association of America Coaching Excellence Awards (2001, 2004, 2006, 2011 & 2012).  In addition he has assisted or directed winning programs in Denver (ACES), Greenwood Village (GTS), Delta (Barracudas), Grand Junction (Dolphins), Pueblo (South), Sitka, Alaska (Baranof Barracudas) and Colorado Springs (CSST).
Pearson is an alumnus of the University of Wyoming, receiving his Bachelor's of Science in Physiology and Cardiac Rehabilitation in 1992.
