The Vaulter.Bahamian.Student.Record holder.Son.Vaulter.
Raised in Georgia. Bahamian by blood and by passport.
Brenden Vanderpool was born June 10, 2005, grew up in Smyrna, Georgia, and competes internationally for the Bahamas. Both places are home. He graduated from Whitefield Academy in 2023, spent two years at Samford University, and is now a senior at the University of Illinois.
The event runs in the family.
His father, Brent Vanderpool, vaulted for the Bahamas at CARIFTA in the 1980s, competed at Delaware State and George Washington, and set the national record at 4.89m in 1987. He built a pit in the backyard out of a mattress, and several kids from the neighborhood went on to vault for the Bahamas because of it. He still advises and coaches Brenden whenever Coach Mitchell isn't there, and he is the voice on the phone before every meet.
Senior. Communication major. Class of 2027.
He studies Communication at the University of Illinois. Outside the sport he has grown passionate about AI and where it is going, and he uses it daily: this site, his content, and the systems behind both were built with it. His plan after graduation is not to look for a job. It is to build one.
Five countries in the Bahamas vest before turning 21.
Jamaica, the Bahamas, Grenada, Costa Rica, Peru. Two Georgia state titles, two Southern Conference titles, three straight CARIFTA golds, a NACAC U23 silver and a Pan American U20 bronze. The full list is below.
Everything so far
What he is working toward.
Los Angeles 2028, and a career built around the sport rather than after it: a community for athletes who want the health and mindset side of training, content that documents the work honestly, and the tools he keeps building along the way. The ideas behind that are on the What I stand for page, in his own words.
