South Belt Area "All Stars" Swimming Team prepares for summer competitive season

By Lou Roesch

Special Correspondent for Texas Aquatics News

HOUSTON, TEXAS (June 26, 2017) The South Belt Area "All Stars" Swimming Team (SBAS) is preparing for the current summer competitive campaign, and are looking to return to the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation's (TAAF) Games of Texas in late July. Sporting a fine group of high school swimmers, who are coming off a very successful season with their respective high schools, along with their very successful masters (18-years-old and over) swimmers, South Belt will be kicking off the summer season on July 15 with the TAAF Region 14 Championships in Katy, Last summer, SBAS finished third in the team standings at the regional championships, along with a top-20 finish at the Games of Texas.

In the high school division, South Belt will be aided in the quest to qualify for the summer state championships with a combination of swimmers from three Pasadena-area high schools. Alexa Perez, Alfredo Vasquez, and Thomas Gonzalez, all of whom were UIL regional qualifiers for Pasadena High School this past February, will be hitting the water for the summer competitions, along with swimmers from Sam Rayburn and Pasadena Memorial High Schools. Rayburn's Michael Vargas, along with Memorial's Marco Castillo, Abigail Salazar, Catherine Acosta, and Reanna Bowers, will compete to earn the coveted ticket to the state championships. 

In the master's division, long-time SBAS swimmer Landon Howard, along with former University of Houston swimmer Kristine Kelly will lead the way in the 18-and-over division. Also returning to the pool will be former Rayburn standout swimmer and diver Derrick Mauk. Kelly, who has been on hiatus from competitive swimming for the past three years while attending law school, will be looking to return the her former form. The former Pasadena High School swimmer holds numerous local, state, and national records in swimming. In addition, Kelly's daughter Kirstin will be looking to return to the state meet in 2017. He first appearance competing in the state championships was in 2015 where she led her eight-and under 100-yard freestyle relay to a 15th place finish at Texas A&M University Natatorium. Newcomers Kimberly Dutton, who is the current UIL District 22-6A junior varsity champion in the 50-yard breaststroke, Abigail Lezcano, Veronica Vatau, and John Long will be looking to make their mark in the annals of swimmers beginning in July 2017.

The Games of Texas summer state swimming championship will be held July 27-30 at Edinburg Water Park in Edinburg, Texas. Other sports in the Games of Texas will take place in McAllen, Texas.

Houston Swim & Dive take AAC title; First in program history

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2017 TexSport Publications

The Houston Cougars women’s swimming and diving team used six medal-platform finishes to power them to the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championships title at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in Houston on Saturday, February 18, 2017. The conference championship was the first for the Cougars in program history. Head coach Ryan Wochomurka and diving coach Bob Gunter were selected as the Coach of the Year, with junior Micaela Bouter being awarded the Diver of the Meet honors. Houston scored 772 points in route to their title, followed by 2016 champion SMU with 676 points. Cincinnati (625), East Carolina (473), Connecticut (460) and Tulane (395) rounded out the team placing.

Wochomurka talked about the Cougars’ performance after the meet:

“Look around at everything we have at this university. We have one of the best facilities in the country. We’ve got the best administration in the country. We’ve got an athletic director who wants to jump in the pool with us at the end of the meet. Why can’t we play and be extremely relevant nationally? We’re just getting started. I’m excited for these kids and most importantly I’m excited for these seniors because they had a couple of years where they struggled, but they battled and they led us to this championship. We are not here today without our seniors.”

The Cougars who scored points and their placing is as follows:

1,650-Yard Freestyle

6. Hannah Herbst – 16:41.39

7. Connor Glenn – 16:53.00

200-Yard Backstroke

2. Eleanna Koutsouveli – 1:55.97

6. Laura Laderoute – 1:59.05

---

9. Jasmine Williams – 1:58.65

12. Jennifer Penneck – 2:01.22

100-Yard Freestyle

3. Ksenia Yuskova – 49.93

6. Zarena Brown – 50.49

8. Caitlin Horner – 50.88

200-Yard Breaststroke

2. Victoria Roubique – 2:12.50

4. Peyton Kondis – 2:13.68

5. Cameron Balkom – 2:14.60

200-Yard Butterfly

5. Sharo Rodriquez Rivera – 2:00.51

Platform Dive

2. Micaela Bouter – 213.00

3 Katelyn Abernathy – 202.80

7. Laurel Burrell – 158.00

400-Yard Freestyle Relay

3. Houston – 3:21.71

Zarena Brown, Laura Laderoute, Ksenia Yuskova, Caitlin Horner

Next up for Houston will be the NCAA Zone Diving Meet on March 6-8 in Columbia, Missouri, which will determine the qualifiers for the NCAA Championships on March 15-17 in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

SMU Women Win Five Events At UNT Relays

Photo courtesy of SMU Public Relations
Used with permission.

LEWISVILLE, TEXAS (October 1, 2016)  The SMU women's swimming and diving team picked up five event wins in an altered format relay meet hosted by North Texas at the LISD Westside Aquatic Center on Friday evening. The Mustangs picked up victories in two of the four traditional relays, including the 800-yard and 200-yard freestyle relays.

SMU opened the event with maximum points in the 300-yard butterfly relay as 2016 all-conference selectionsMarne Erasmus and Anna Cheesbrough were joined by Mustang newcomer Erin Trahan for the win.

The Mustangs also won the ladder relay featuring Hannah Rogers (50 yards), Vicky Cunningham (100 yards), Ursa Bezan (150 yards) and Maddie Hoch (200 yards), while Bezan, Trahan, Kirsty McLauchlan and Tara-Lynn Nicholas outpaced the field in the 4x100 individual medley relay.

In traditional relay action, the 800-yard freestyle relay team of Hoch, Pauli Kerr, Bezan and Cunningham out-touched American Athletic Conference opponent Houston for the win. Hoch, Bezan and Cunningham represented the Mustangs on the winning 800 free team at the conference championships a season ago, while Kerr comes in as a freestyle specialist this season.

The 200-yard freestyle relay was also part of the 10-event schedule with the winning relay including Rogers and Erasmus, who helped lead the Mustangs to a conference championship in the event last season. Freshman Trahan also joined the duo along with classmate Eva Gliozeryte.  

Houston finished atop the team standings with 386 points, while the Mustangs accumulated 334 total. Host North Texas was third at 322, Little Rock finished fourth with 220 and Oklahoma Baptist used the meet as an exhibition tune-up.

SMU Men’s Swimming And Diving Picks Up Eight Wins In Exhibition Action

Photo courtesy of SMU Public Relations Department
Used with permission. 

LEWISVILLE, TEXAS (September 30, 2016) The SMU men's swimming and diving team earned eight of ten event wins in exhibition action against Oklahoma Baptist at the UNT Relays on Friday evening. The event consisted of altered format relays, as well as four traditional relays.

The Mustangs earned victories in the traditional 800 free, 400 medley and 400 free relays.

The 800 free distance featured 2016 all-conference selections Matthew Colket, Lucas Schenke and Christian Scherubl, while the 400 included Colket, Carson Klein, Nick Badsky and Grayson Magruder.

In the 400 medley Bartosz Krzyzanisk was the only repeat performer from the conference championship in 2016. He was joined by Brandon Norman, Stefan Popov and Garrett Carson for the win.

Mustangs Wins
300-yard butterfly –Norman / Carson / Jonathan Gomez
300-yard breaststroke – Ronen Faur / Stefan Popov / Ziga Cerkovnik
800-yard freestyle –Colket / Carson Klein / Schenke / Scherubl
500-yard freestyle – Nick Badsky / Klein / Duncan Brookover / Arthur Yuen
400-yard medley – Norman / Popov / Carson / Krzyzaniak
1500-yard freestyle – Schenke / Klein / Colket
4x100 IM – Norman / Kianu Kitching / Carson / Gomez
400-yard freestyle – Colket / Klein / Badsky / Magruder

The Mustangs are back in action on Oct. 12 at 5 p.m. CT for their annual intrasquad meet at the A.R. Barr Outdoor Pool. On Oct. 19 SMU hosts rival TCU at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium at 6:30 p.m. CT.

Katie Ledecky Claims Fourth Straight USA Swimming Athlete of the Year Honor

Photo courtesy of USA Swimming
Used with permission.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA (September 26, 2016)  Five-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Nation’s Capital Swim Club) was named USA Swimming Athlete of the Year for a record fourth consecutive year and earned the Phillips 66 Performance Award for the fifth straight occasion after a world-record swim in the 800-meter freestyle at the 2016 Olympic Games.

The awards were among the 17 presented at the United States Aquatic Sports Convention in downtown Atlanta.

With four gold medals and a silver medal, for the best performance by a female, at this summer’s Olympic Games, Ledecky once again made history. She became one of just four American women to win four gold medals at a single Olympics, and joined Debbie Meyer (1968) as the only women to win the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle at the same Games. Ledecky added gold in the 4x200m free relay and silver in the 4x100m free relay, swimming the anchor leg in each race. She also bested her own world records with swims of 3:56.46 in the 400m free and 8:04.79 in the 800m free in Rio.

In her award-winning 800m free performance in Rio, Ledecky led wire-to-wire with incredibly consistent splits until closing with a 28.99 final 50 meters to touch 11 seconds clear of the field. The victory gave Ledecky her fourth gold medal in Rio and her fifth world-record swim in the 800m free since 2013.

"I am so grateful and honored to receive these awards, and also to have had the opportunity again to represent the United States at the Olympic Games on another tremendous National Team. I want to thank my family and local community, my NCAP and Team USA teammates, coaches and staff, USA Swimming, Phillips 66 and everyone who continues to support Team USA and the sport of swimming,” Ledecky said. “Special thanks must go to my coach Bruce Gemmell and trainer Lee Sommers for their knowledge, dedication, and hard work in helping me become a better swimmer."

The 2016 USA Swimming Award was presented to Travis Tygart, United States Anti-Doping Agency Chief Executive Officer, for his and USADA’s devoted efforts in providing fair sport for clean athletes. The USA Swimming Award is the highest honor given annually by the national governing body.

Tygart, the USADA CEO since 2007, has been an unyielding advocate for clean sport. He was a leader in working with FINA to increase testing for the top 10 ranked swimmers in each event leading up to and at the Olympic Games.

“It is a huge honor to have wonderful partners like USA Swimming, and for USADA to be recognized in this fashion,” said Tygart. “We are humbled by this award and will to continue to work every day so that clean athletes and coaches can win the right way.”

Dave Durden of the University of California and Cal Aquatics, who coaches five members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team, was honored as the American Swimming Coaches Association Coach of the Year earlier this month. He coached individual medalists Nathan Adrian, Ryan Murphy and Josh Prenot at the Rio Olympic Games and was an assistant coach on the Olympic Team staff. John Morse and Doug Wharam of Nashville Aquatic Club shared USA Swimming Developmental Coach of the Year honors.

Olympians Haley Anderson (Granite Bay, Calif./Trojan Swim Club) and Jordan Wilimovsky (Malibu, Calif./Team Santa Monica) claimed top open water swimming honors following fifth-place finishes in Rio. Anderson was named Female Open Water Swimmer of the Year, while Wilimovsky earned Fran Crippen Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year accolades. Both were repeat winners from 2015 and Anderson has won the award five consecutive years.

Catherine Vogt, open water head coach for the 2016 Olympic Team, was awarded the Glen S. Hummer Award, given to the individual making the greatest contribution to open water swimming for the year.

The Adolph Kiefer Safety Award was presented to Jill White, founder of the Starfish Aquatics Institute, an internationally recognized water safety certification agency providing certifications in every facet of aquatics. The Starfish Aquatics Institute is a global leader in drowning prevention, and it has brought its varied educational programs to six continents.

Two honorees were recognized for the Diversity & Inclusion Award for strong commitments to bringing swimming to the African-American community. TheSigma Gamma Rho sorority, through its Swim1922 program, has taught generations of African-Americans to swim and Tommy Jackson (City of Atlanta Dolphins) for more than 35 years has influenced thousands of children to join the sport.

Paralympian Rebecca Meyers (Baltimore, Md./North Baltimore Aquatic Club) earned the Trischa L. Zorn Award following a standout performance in Rio. At the 2016 Paralympic Games, she won three gold medals and one silver, while setting three world records. The award is presented for the outstanding performance of the year by an adapted swimmer.

A complete list of winners:

Female Open Water Swimmer of the Year: Haley Anderson (Trojan Swim Club)

Fran Crippen Memorial Male Swimmer of the Year: Jordan Wilimovsky (Team Santa Monica)

Glen S. Hummer Award: Catherine Vogt (Trojan Swim Club)

Adolph Kiefer Safety Commendation Award: Jill White (Starfish Aquatics Institute)

Trischa L. Zorn Award: Rebecca Meyers (North Baltimore Aquatic Club)

James Raymond “Jimi” Flowers Disability Coach of the Year: Tom Hazelett (YMCA of Triangle Area)

Outstanding Disability Service Award: Bill Keating (Cincinnati Marlins)

Make a Splash Hero Award: Bob Crunstedt (Minnesota Swimming)

Safe Sport Impact Award: Paul Stauder (Indiana Swimming)

Diversity Inclusion Award: Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. (organization); Tommy Jackson (individual, City of Atlanta Dolphins)

Kenneth J. Pettigrew Award: Bob Griffiths (Carrollwood Village Swim Team)

ASCA Coach of the Year (Presented at the ASCA Convention): Dave Durden (Cal Aquatics)

Developmental Coach of the Year: John Morse, Doug Wharam (Nashville Aquatic Club)

Athletes’ Appreciation Award: John Morse (Wichita Swim Club)

Phillips 66 Performance of the Year Award: Katie Ledecky, 800m Freestyle, 2016 Olympic Games (Nation’s Capital Swim Club)

USA Swimming Athlete of the Year: Katie Ledecky (Nation’s Capital Swim Club)

USA Swimming Award: Travis T. Tygart, United States Anti-Doping Agency

LSU Gold defeats LSU Purple in Intersquad Meet

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA  (September 24, 2016) The gold team defeated the purple team, 76-66, in the annual Purple and Gold Intrasquad meet on Saturday at the LSU Natatorium.

“On the women’s side from the swimmers, we saw them try to really work and improve on things from yesterday, so I was excited about that,” said LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer.

“Some of the splits on relays and some of the times we saw were faster than yesterday, so it’s just that adaptation to racing which is good from day-to-day. On the men’s side, with the format we had, it gave us the opportunity to see what our relays potentially could be. I think we had some great individual swims in there. For our three freshmen guy swimmers, it’s their first short course racing experience. For them to get accustomed to that was beneficial, and we’ll just move on from here with our process.”

The gold team jumped out to an early lead as the relay team of Brandon Goldman, Garrett House, and Tyler Harper took first in the men’s 3 X 50 medley relay, earning a time of 1:11.54. Goldman and House also tallied victories in the 200 back and the 200 breast, finishing with times of 1:49.12 and 2:05.01 respectively.

On the women’s side, the 400 medley relay team of Sophie Weber, Olivia Paskulin, Lia Joslin and Kate Zimmer claimed first place with a time of 3:50.59 to open the meet for the gold squad. Weber tacked on more first place points for the gold team, earning a win in the 200 back, finishing at 1:59.99.

For the purple team, Angele Cherbonnier, Gabrielle Pick, Leah Troskot and Hannah Martin took first in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:36.66. Kara Kopcso, Summer Spradley, Sophia Bisch and Makenna Wilson also earned another relay victory in the 400 medley 4 x 100 IM relay, wrapping up the event with a time of 3:58.73.

Nicole Rozier secured a victory in the 200 back, completing the event at 2:09.23.

On the men’s side, Sven Saemundsson, Lewis Clough, Logan Rysemus, and Will Arthur finished first in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:05.43 for the purple squad.

Clough tallied another victory, garnering a win in the 200 free with a time of 1:41.27. Rysemus also earned an individual event win in the 100 fly with a time of 48.00.

Saemundsson and Alarii-Levreault Lopez both earned victories in the mixed events. Saemundsson took first in the mixed 1000 free with a time of 9:31.14, and Lopez finished first with a time of 1:51.49 in the mixed 200 fly.

The diving portion of the meet was highlighted by the performances of sophomores Rileigh Knox and Matthew Phillip.

“What we did was a very non-traditional diving format, but it gave us an opportunity to compete some of our dives in an environment where we have the support of the swimming team and we can interact with all of that,” explained LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer.

“Matt Phillip really stood out on platform, and Rileigh put together a really solid performance all the way through. Those two won their respective events in a non-traditional diving format.”

Pasadena area swimmers bring home honors from Harvest Classic

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography, Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Lou Roesch

Copyright 2016 Texas Aquatics News

PASADENA, TEXAS (September 23, 2016)  Pasadena area swimmers took top honors in five individual events and Pasadena Memorial High School Maverick swimmer Tristan Morgan was selected the Outstanding Male Competitor at the Harvest Classic Invitational at Shippey Aquatic Center in Pasadena, Texas on Friday, September 23, 2016. Morgan won two of the five individual gold medals and established a new meet record of 1:07.61 in the 100-yard individual medley. The senior’s other gold medal came in the 50-yard breaststroke (:34.30) where he barely missed his second meet record of the meet. Morgan holds the record in the event (:33.78) which was established in 2015. Also taking home gold medals was Sam Rayburn’s Michael Vargas in the 50-yard backstroke (:35.53), Pasadena’s Alfredo Vasquez in the 50-yard butterfly (:32.54) and Pasadena Memorial’s Catherine Acosta in the 200-yard freestyle (3:03.67).

Six silver medals were won by local swimmers in the meet with the Mavericks accounting for five of them. Morgan added a silver medal to his collection in the 100-yard freestyle (:59.36) while Reanna Bowers scored in the 200-freestyle (3:04.32). Cecilia Villarreal took runner-up honors in the 100-yard individual medley, with Brianna Lykens and Melanie Jimenez added silvers in the 50-yard breaststroke (:46.91) and 50-yard backstroke (:42.83), respectively. Vasquez added a silver medal to the Eagles’ haul in the 100-yard individual medley (1:33.77).

Bowers added to the medal harvesting with bronze medals in both the 50-yard freestyle (:35.12) and the 50-yard backstroke (:43.39) for the Mavericks; along with Acosta’s bronze in the 100-yard individual medley. Sam Rayburn tallied a bronze medal in the 50-yard butterfly due to Genell Morales’s performance in the 50-yard butterfly. The Eagles’ Alexa Perez (200-yard freestyle 3:10.08) and Brian Perez (200-yard freestyle 2:34.45) capped Pasadena’s medal count.

In the team standings, Tomball finished first with 258 points, followed by the Pasadena Memorial (116 points), Pasadena (50 points) and Sam Rayburn (49 points). Tomball’s Ashley Ramsey was selected as the Outstanding Female Competitor at the meet; winning the 100-yard freestyle and 50-yard breaststroke.