The GR Coaching Staff

Alexander Brinks joined the Grand Rapids Novi Sad Aquatics coaching staff in January of 2011. His primary objectives are to help age group swimmers to develop as young student-athletes and to provide children living in the South Grand Rapids area with preliminary exposure to the sport of swimming.

While in high school, Brinks taught swim lessons for Hudsonville Public Schools from 2002 to 2005. He spent the next four years swimming and studying at Oakland University (OU), and from 2005 to 2008, Alex was a lifeguard and swim lessons instructor for the Oakland University Rec Center throughout the school year and for Grand Rapids Parks and Rec during the summer time.

In 2009, after graduating from Oakland with a B.A. in English, Alex began coaching and substitute teaching for Grand Rapids Public Schools. During the 2009-2010 school year, he assistant coached the Ottawa Hills High School girls and boys teams and also coached the West Michigan Masters group at Grand Rapids Community College.

From 2010 to the present, Brinks has been the head coach for the Ottawa Hills High School girls team and the South Middle Schools (Alger and Gerald R. Ford) co-ed swim team. He is an ASCA Level 2 coach and lifeguard instructor. From 2010 to 2011, Alex has also worked as a pool supervisor at the Salvation Army Kroc Center and an assistant manager at Martin Luther King Park.

A native to West Michigan, Alex was born in Grand Rapids and grew up in Hudsonville. He started swimming at seven years old with the Hudsonville Dolphins & Jenison Wildcats Community Swim Teams. Brinks went on to swim for West Michigan Swimming (WMS), Hudsonville High School, and Oakland University. In his 16 years as a competitive swimmer, Alex has been an age group state champion, high school All-American, and earned Academic All-Conference honors all four years in college.