Pullman alumni gets inducted into HOF

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — The same day his alma mater of Pullman High School won the WIAA 2A swimming state championship for the first time in school history, Gabe Brannan was inducted to the Washington Swimming Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a swimmer for Pullman High School during the 90s.

As a member of the Pullman swim team, Brannan set several school records as well as the state record in the 100-meter butterfly and won four first-place medals during his tenure on the swim team, and was named a high school All-American. Some of those records stood until this past season.

“It’s a circle of life kind of deal,” Brannan said. “I’ve had all these records and this is the year where they’re all, I think, off the board. Finally, after however many years, they’re off the board. But, it’s also the year I get inducted into the Hall of Fame. So it’s a weird kind of a deal. It was great to see those kids down on the pool deck, I was able to go over to the 1-2-3 grounds with them before the meet. It’s great, I like to see Pullman win... it’s always good when Greyhounds are doing well.”

In the in-between from when Brannan set the records as a high school athlete to his induction in the Hall of Fame, Brannan had a son who graduated high school and was also a member of the Pullman swim team.

“(The records) have been around for a while,” Brannan said. “I told my son – ‘Those records were set when Michael Jordan was winning championships.’ So, it’s been a while. That’s the way I kind of think of it. It’s been around for a long time, they were great to have. It was nice to see my name on the wall, but it’ll be nice to see other people’s (names) end up on the wall, as well.”

The induction at Federal Way offered a sense of surrealism for Brannan, having his name enshrined and honored the same year his records were broken, being honored for his accomplishments from a generation ago the same day his old high school won its first title.

“It was half a life ago,” Brannan said. “What was nice to see was the camaraderie of the guys that they had there on the deck, how close a bunch of guys were. The first of a lot of people to congratulate me on the Hall of Fame were all the guys I swam with, mostly at Pullman high school. It’s a unique sport. You get a chance to build real unique relationships because you spend so much time together. So, to see that continue on was great to know that, somehow, I was a part of that.”

Brannan’s records may not be on the walls in Federal Way anymore, but his name will continue through another generation in the Hall of Fame as one of two Pullman alumni with Mark Mader.