Pioneer Athlete Spotlight on Chooch, Charley and Cole Branich
Chooch, Charley and Cole Branich
Team: Dana Hills Swim Team
Sports: Swimming & Softball
CLAYTON, CA (Aug. 19, 2025) — In summer recreation swimming having a member of the family win high-point honors at one of the biggest meets of the season is quite an honor. The Branich family of Clayton this year had three times that excitement when Chooch, Charley and Cole each achieved that at the 58th Concord City Swimming Championships. This is not a totally new experience as the sisters have claimed 11 City Meet high point honors for the Dana Hill Swim Team since 2021, including all three two years ago as well.
Coach Nikki Palmer has been mentoring the girls as the Otters head coach since 2019 and post pandemic Cole, now 12, has won five consecutive city high-point awards while the next in line, Charley, has racked up four straight high points. Coach Palmer was especially impressed this year by down-aged Charley winning the award for the 9-10 age group as that’s the year swimmers change from 25- to 50-yard races.
Youngest sister Chooch, 8, took top honors in 7-8 after doing the same two years ago in six and under.
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In 2014 The Pioneer spotlighted three Dana Hills swimmers from the Seastrand family who had pulled off the family triple play of high point awards at City Meet.
At the season-ending county championships a week after city, Chooch and Charley each won high point. Cole was second in 11-12 and had the distinction of finishing in an unprecedented three-way for second in the butterfly.
The Otters were crowned Concord City A Division champions for the 32nd time in the past 33 City Meets while they followed that up with a third-place finish at county. At county, the Clayton-based team had a slow start on Saturday, but Sunday’s strong finish brought them within nine points of taking second place overall. It has been over a decade since DHST has finished outside the top five in Contra Costa County.
The Branich girls are not just specialists in the pool, as all three won the individual medley at city. Cole was second at county in the IM while both her sisters were first. Their coach isn’t surprised by anything they do. “They truly deserve the achievements. I don’t think any of them missed a single set all season. They work really hard.”
Away from the pool the girls were back in school last week. The younger two girls are in third and fifth grade at Mt. Diablo Elementary while Cole is a seventh grader at Diablo View Middle. All three have been playing softball in Clayton Valley Little League although Cole is joining a travel team this year.
The Pioneer congratulates Chooch, Charley and Cole and thanks Athlete Spotlight sponsors Dr. Laura Lacey & Dr. Christopher Ruzicka who have been serving the Clayton and Concord area for over three decades at Family Vision Care Optometry.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.