Brittany started swimming on the Alma Gators summer league swimming team at the age of 4 years old and quickly transitioned to swimming year-round for the Fort Smith Tideriders. Under coach Ian Bullock, she went on to set Arkansas state, LSC, Arkansas High School, and Region-VIII records in the 200, 400/500, 800/1000, and 1500/1650 freestyle events. Brittany was an 8-time High School All-American in the 200 and 500 freestyle and earned the Arkansas Swimming Heil Mile Award 6 times for the most outstanding distance swimmer in the state for the ages of 13-18 years. Brittany was selected to attend the USA swimming National Select Camp at the Olympic Training Center in 2003. She was awarded Arkansas Swimming most outstanding female swimmer her senior year in 2004. Brittany went on to swim in college at Rice University where she was a four-year letter winner. At Rice University she set school records in the 200, 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyle events under coach Seth Huston. Brittany was a member of the United States Open Water National Team and competed in the 5k open water race at Open Water World Championships in Italy in 2006. She was a 2-time Division 1 NCAA All-American in the 500 and 1650 freestyle in 2008 for the Rice Owls. Brittany competed in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Trials in the 400 and 800 freestyle as well as the 10k USA Open Water Olympic Trials debut in 2008. After graduation in 2009, she competed professionally for the next season. After retiring from her swimming career, Brittany went on to coach at various swimming levels including age-group, high school, master’s, and collegiate/university teams. Brittany earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Kinesiology from Rice University, a Master of Science in Education in Sport Psychology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, a Master of Science in Mental Health Counselor and her Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education and Supervision, both from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. Dr. Brittany Massengale is a university professor where she teaches Counselor Education. Her research and clinical work is focused on children and adolescent mental health, play therapy, utilizing expressive arts in therapy, and student-athlete mental health.