PHOENIX, August 30. BRENT Rutemiller has been appointed the CEO and Publisher of Sports Publications, Inc. (SPI), according to an announcement today by Richard Deal, President and Board Chairman for the company. SPI publishes Swimming World, SWIM, Swimming Technique and Water Polo Scoreboard magazines and also produces SwimInfo.com.
Deal will remain as President, while Phillip Whitten will continue as Editor-in-Chief of Sports Publications.
Brent has that rare combination of talents that allows him to formulate unique and innovative ideas to promote and market the sport of swimming, Deal said. Importantly, he has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to take an idea, turn it into a project, build a team around it and then bring it to fruition.
As the former Marketing Director for SPI, Brent, 46, conceived and implemented numerous projects to increase sponsorship dollars and revenue-generating opportunities for Sports Publications.
Brent has a unique background and set of experiences encompassing virtually every aspect of the sport of swimming; from age group and collegiate swimmer to coach.
In addition, in 1998, he authored Below the Surface – a groundbreaking book about the administrative side of coaching that was hailed by USA Swimming and Canadian Swimming as recommended reading for coaches and swim team officers. It was the first comprehensive collection of procedures and policies to unify a team's mission with its attitudes and expectations.
Prior to that, Brent served as the Editor of Swimming Technique magazine from 1990 to 1996, and the Technical Editor for Swimming World from 1994 to 1996.
In 1984, Brent earned national recognition as the creator of educational materials for swimmers when he started a publishing company in San Diego, California. His educational comic strip, The AquaZoids, has been featured in Swimming World magazine.
As a successful former head swimming club coach and USA Swimming National Team Coach, he has over twenty years of coaching experience. He began his coaching career in 1976 at the Brookwood Country Club in Northern Kentucky as an assistant to Frank Busch (current head coach for the University of Arizona). Brent then became the Aquatic Director for the South Dearborn School Corporation in Indiana.
In 1988, he was hired by Dennis Pursley (current National Team Director for USA Swimming) to coach with Pierre Lafontaine (current coach at the Australian Institute of Sport) and to work with architects to help design and directly supervise the construction of a multi-million dollar sports training complex known today as the Phoenix Swim Club.
In 1990, he was hired by the Scottsdale Aquatic Club to build a comprehensive competitive swim program sponsored by the City of Scottsdale Parks and Recreational Department.
Brent currently serves as the President of the Arizona Swim Foundation and lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife Ellen and their three children.