About me
Dave Brancamp has been a member of Pacific Masters Swimming (PMS) for thirty plus years. During this time Dave has swam on 27 Trans Tahoe Relay teams as well as participated in numerous local and national open water events. In 1998 he was the PMS 35 – 39 swimmer of the year and has won the open water points series for PMS five times. Dave has been a USMS National Long-Distance Champion 15 times and in 2002, 2021, 2022 and 2025 he was a member of the USMS Long Distance All-stars. During the last 12 years Dave has enjoyed expanding his love of open water to new ventures and the world of marathon swimming. Dave Brancamp has had the privilege of being on the USMS Long Distance Committee from 2018 – present and the Chair of the USMS LMSC Development Committee in 2022 and 2023. In 2023 Dave was honored with USMS Dorothy Donnelly Service Award. Dave has also served as President of the Sierra Nevada Masters club and has served on the PMS Open Water Committee as well as assisting with the Donner Lake Swim for several years. In 2012, Dave teamed up with open water swimmers Liza Hazen, Susanne Heim-Bowen, and Bill McCraken for a PMS workshop on preparing for a 10K swim. The workshop sold out quickly and swimmers were eager for the tips. This opened the door to working privately with some open water swimmers and bringing the joy, reward, and experience of swimming marathon swims, like a 10K or the Swim Around Key West (12.5 miles), Portland Bridge Swim (11 miles) or Alligator Lighthouse Swim (8 miles) to life for others. In 2022, Dave decided to try for the Triple Crown of Lake Tahoe swimming; the True Width (12 miles), Vikingsholm (10.6 miles) and the Length (21.3 miles). So far, True Width and Vikingsholm are successfully in the books, and the last leg is on the schedule for Summer 2026. For the Sierra Nevada Masters, Dave has had the opportunity to coach/lead some special ultra distance workouts (7,000 – 10,000-yard workouts) as well as the summer open water practices at Bocca Reservoir, Donner Lake and Lake Tahoe. Dave has focused on training for cooler water, sighting in open water and feeding during longer swims. Dave especially loves to collaborate with the newer swimmers to marathon swimming and making the transition from pool swimming to open water as smooth as possible.
