Brendan Heller has been hired as head coach of the Greenwich High School girls swimming team Greenwich athletic director Gus Lindine announced on Thursday.

Heller replaces Lorrie Hokayem, who resigned at the conclusion of Greenwich’s 2020 season after spending seven successful seasons as coach of the Cardinals.

Hokayem, who took over Greenwich’s girls varsity swim program in 2014, coached the Cardinals to five CIAC Class LL team championships (2014-2018), four State Open titles, including four straight from 2015 to 2018 and two FCIAC championships (2017, 2018).

The Cardinals, who placed a close second to Cheshire for the team title at the 2019 State Open Championships, won the FCIAC West Division championship this past fall under Hokayem’s guidance. The FCIAC, Class LL and State Open championships were not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Numerous All-American, All-State and All-FCIAC athletes competed on Hokayem’s Greenwich swim teams, one of whom was All-American performer Meghan Lynch, who will soon continue her swimming career at Stanford University.

Hokayem was named the Connecticut High School Girls Swim Coach of the Year for the 2016 season by the CHSCA.

Heller arrives at Greenwich, after spending the past year as the boys varsity coach at Woodland Regional High School. During his time there, Heller guided the boys to their best season in school history, breaking multiple school records.

Prior to his stint at Woodland, Heller headed the swim team at Sacred Heart Greenwich, where the Tigers registered 36-16-1 dual meet record over four seasons. He also worked in the athletic department at Sacred Heart.

While coaching at Iona Prep, Heller was named the New York CHSAA Division II Coach of the Year for completing an undefeated dual meet season in 2016.

Most recently, Heller has been an assistant swimming coach for the men and women programs at Carnegie Mellon University, where he helped lead 24 student-athletes to achieve CSCAA Division III All-American status during the 2019-20 season.

A graduate of Bryant University, where he captained the swim team, Heller has also served as the Riverside Yacht Club’s head swim coach coach and aquatics director for their summer program for the past four years.

Heller, who holds a Master of Arts in Education from Xavier University, will coach in his first meet for Greenwich when the team hosts Fairfield Warde on Sept. 10.