New Aquatics Coach on the Block

Santa Monica College (SMC) swimming Head Coach, Brian Eskridge, at the SMC pool on Tuesday, September 10, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Yasamin Jtehrani / The Corsair)

It's Santa Monica College (SMC) Aquatics coach Brian Eskridge's time to make a splash. 

SMC has a new head coach on the diving block, and his name is Brian Eskridge. After working as a part-time staff member for the last ten years, Eskridge recently accepted a full-time position as Head Director of SMC's Aquatics Department. Starting as an assistant coach for the men's water polo team in 2009, Eskridge moved up the ranks to become head coach in 2015. He's also coached the Men's swimming and Women's water polo teams.

Eskridge never settled on being the assistant coach for the Men's and Women's swimming team. He also took over the Men’s swim team in 2015 and the Women’s swim team in 2018. Now, he is finally getting the chance to show his leadership qualities and change the perception of the Women’s Water Polo team, which went 1-11 last year.

When asked about his new position as the official head coach and his road to get there, Eskridge stated, “It’s been a journey working with the department, working part-time for ten years, and going through the interview process, but getting that call was a relief."

In terms of expectations for this year, Eskridge said, “We are trying to get better as a team this year. We have some newcomers who haven’t played the sport before. So, just trying to get them better and ready to compete."

Ideally, Eskridge wants to win games, but it's been a struggle to do so over the last couple of years. Eskridge used a lot of keywords such as "improving" and "getting better" to describe his vision for the team. He wants to show his team that as they progress, they can be competitive in the future.

The support of the upperclassmen who have seen the ups and downs of the program could be a benefit as he tries to get the underclassmen to buy into the program to help grow the culture of the swim team.

Lastly, Coach Eskridge was asked about some key components he has done this year that’s different from any other year for the Women's Water Polo team.

He responded, “Just wanting the girls to buy into the program. No matter if you have experience or not, everyone is held to the same standards, which is to work hard and do whatever it takes to make the team better.”

Coach Eskridge has made it his goal to change the culture and rebuild the Women’s water polo team. Their season began Saturday, Sept. 7 in the L.A. Valley mini-tournament against Pasadena City College and San Diego Mesa College with two losses.

The womens water polo head coach Brian Eskridge poses for a photo for The Corsair newspaper at the Santa Monica College Aquatics Center in Santa Monica Calif. (Joshua Nicoloro/The Corsair)