Heller Returns to Swimming & Diving Staff as Assistant Coach
6/2/2026 10:38:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
FAIRFIELD, CONN. – Head Women's Swimming and Diving Coach John Spadafina announced the return of Brendan Heller as the assistant women's swimming and diving coach beginning June 1. Heller returns to Fairfield after previously serving as an assistant to Spadafina during the 2020-21 season when the Pios went 3-2 and placed fourth at the NEW Championships during the Covid-19 pandemic season.
For the past four years, Heller has served as the head girls swimming coach at Greenwich High School. In five seasons, the team compiled a 42–5 record, captured three Fairfield County Championships, four State Divisional Championships, and recorded three undefeated seasons culminating in Connecticut State Open titles.
At Greenwich, he coached 50 All-State performers and 12 All-Americans, while also setting the CIAC state record for most team points scored in a championship meet on three occasions: the 2024 and 2025 Class LL State Finals, as well as the 2025 State Open Championships. Heller was named Fairfield County Girls Swim Coach of the Year twice (2021 and 2023), Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference Fall Coach of the Year for all sports in 2023, and Connecticut High School Coaches Association Girls Swim Coach of the Year in 2024.
Heller also has experience coaching the Woodland High School boys swimming team and currently serves as the Head Coach of Amity Regional Aquatic Club.
Prior to joining the Pios in 2020, Heller was an assistant coach at Division III national contender Carnegie Mellon from 2019–2020 and served as assistant coach and later interim head coach at Manhattan College during the 2018–19 season.
A First Lieutenant in the Rhode Island National Guard, Heller is a 2012 graduate of Bryant University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a minor in Business Administration. He was also a four-year Division I swimmer and team captain. In 2020, he earned a Master's in Education, specializing in coaching education and athlete development, from Xavier University.
Heller resides in Orange with his wife, Kristen, and their two sons, Andy and Chase.
