Lemont Man Wins Swimming National Championship

LEMONT, IL — Lemont resident Mark Brandt recently became a National Champion by winning his age division in the United States Masters Swimming 1 mile Open Water National Championship in Makanda. Brandt is a life-long swimmer, and he was born and grew up in Springfield, but moved to Lemont eight years ago.

His recent National Championship isn't his first. He has also been National Champion twice before, once in 2014 and once in 2016.

Brandt has grown up around swimming; and his family belonged to a club on Lake Springfield and he took vacations to Kentucky Lake as a child. His two older brothers were successful swimmers, and so Brandt's parents also put him on the swim team when he was 7.

"I ended up swimming competitively year round into my early 20s, including 4 years on the Eastern Illinois University Men's Swim Team and one year on the Illinois State University Swim Club during grad school," Brandt said.

Before he moved to Lemont, he competed in 30 triathlons, and also did open water swim races including the Golden Gate Bridge Swim (which is now illegal due to safety risks) and the Swim from Alcatraz, both in California.

Brandt said after moving to Lemont he began swimming with Tri Right, and was hooked once again. He says he generally swims 90+ minutes four to five days a week mostly before work.

"We swim in Hinsdale in the summer and Oak Brook in the other months, which is great because I get to the pool near the office in Oak Brook before rush hour morning traffic," Brandt said.

He said some of his favorite races were Swim to the Moon 5k near Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he swam several of a chain of lakes and channels. He also swam a 10-mile swim on the Tennessee River near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

He said right now his focus is on preparing for the Pan American Masters Swimming Championships and the swim leg of a half ironman triathlon in Benton Harbor, both in August. His triathlon relay team consists of all Lemont residents.

Brandt enjoys the comraderie of competing and swimming. He's looking forward to swimming even more races.

"The next open water races on my to-do list include several United States Masters Swimming national championship races, the Mackinac Bridge Swim, Trans Lake Tahoe Relay Swim, and Maui Channel Relay Swim," Brandt said.

Photos provided.