Summer Newsletter
Dear WETS, July 2023
It’s finally time to RSVP to gather on the Forty Acres, which now includes a few more weekend
activities, and the focus will be on swimming and diving when the football team will be taking on Baylor in Waco. Last year’s popular Eddie Reese/Pat Patterson Golf Tournament makes a return and looks to be a
great tradition! We will be honoring the 96 (that’s right, NINTEY SIX) UT Swimming and Diving Olympians,
six new Frank Erwin recipients, and of course all past and present Longhorn tankers. We welcome all UT alums, parents of current or former swimmers and divers as well as those who just love Longhorn Swimming and Diving to any of these events.
Captain (’78) Darrell Fick, along with the Texas One Fund Swimming and Diving Committee have done a lot of work in preparation for the best reunion weekend ever. Not competing with the huge football crowd in Austin helped secure a great location for our annual reunion dinner and some great hotels at a generous price.
– Omni Downtown
– W Hotel Downtown
– Renaissance Arboretum
We don’t just swim and dive, we can putt 2!
Eddie Reese/Pat Patterson 2nd Annual UT Swimming and Diving Reunion Golf Tournament
Proceeds benefiting Texas One Fund
Morris Williams Golf Course – 3851 Manor Rd, Austin, TX 78723
8:00 AM Shotgun Start – Friday September 22nd, 2023
Registration deadline: Friday, August 25th, 2023
Individuals – $165
Foursomes – $660
Hole Sponsor -$1,000 (includes a sign on one of the 18 holes and four golfers)
Title Sponsors – Gold $50K, Silver $25K, Bronze $10K
Limited to the first 120 golfers!!
Here is the link to Reserve your spot for golf or sponsor opportunities!
UT Swimming and Diving Olympian Gala and Frank Erwin Awards Banquet
Saturday September 23rd, 2023 – 5:00-9:00 PM
Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium 405 E 23rd St, Austin, TX 78712
Reception: 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM Frank Denius Family University of Texas Athletics Hall of Fame
Dinner and Olympian Celebration and Erwin Awards: 6:30 – 9:00 PM Touchdown Club
Attire: Black Tie Optional (Dressing it up a bit this year)
Reserve your place Here! Dinner Tickets are $75.00 each and include two drink tickets. Remember that our WETS donor year begins July 1st and that’s when Legacy donors ($200) are entitled to two complimentary tickets. Century Donors ($100) may receive one ticket. Kris Kubik will be back in his role as MC of this fun event honoring six great Longhorn Legends and of course all of you that have contributed through the years to the greatest aquatic program in the world!
Olympic Gala Table Sponsorships Link: Your $10,000 Table Sponsorship includes four tickets to your table with Olympian guests seated with you. Your table sponsorship will go to benefit Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Texas One Fund initiative.
2023 Frank Erwin Recipients
Marty Hubbell
Prior to coming to UT, Marty Hubbell was a four-time Ohio State swimming champion for Waynesville High School and while swimming for Countryside YMCA won a total of 27 Y National titles. At Texas, he was a twelve-time All-American and served as Captain of the 1996 NCAA Champion team. He also represented the United States in the 1994 Goodwill Games and is a proud member of the United States National Team Alumni. Marty is currently the sitting Judge of the Lebanon Municipal Court, in Lebanon, Ohio (elected in 2021), where he lives with his wife Megan, and their daughter, Henley. He is most proud to be recognized by his teammates twice for the Bob Cone Spirit Award, and once for the Leadership Award.
Ricky Berens 2006-2010
Arrived at Texas from his hometown of Charlotte NC where he was named Swimming World’s National High School swimmer of the year. He continued his career at Texas where he was a 20-time All-American, member of two NCAA champion relay teams, and a huge contributor to the Horns 2010 NCAA team title. He served on numerous USA Swimming International teams throughout his career including the 2008 and 2012 US Olympic teams. Ricky was a member of the gold medal winning 800 Free Relay with Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and Peter Vanderkaay, setting a new world record at those games, and also won Silver as a member of the 400 Free Relay in 2012. After a brief retirement, in 2013, he broke the American record in the 200-yard free and earned another gold medal at the World Championships as a member of the 800 free relay. Ricky serves as the treasurer on the Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame and lives in Cuero, Tx, with his wife Elizabeth, their son Beau, and their daughter Sunny.
Tanica Jamison (2000-2003)
An 11-time All-American and two-time NCAA Champion at the University of Texas
under then-head coach Jill Sterkel, Jamison was the 2000 Big 12 Freshman and
Newcomer of the Year, earned the Leadership Award in 2001 and 2002, was a two-time team captain and was selected as the team’s MVP in 2003. She was also a 5-time Big XII champion. Jamison has a long-time association with the National Diversity Select Camp, which began when she was a three-time participant in the mid-1990s and continued when she was invited to serve as a National Team athletic representative in 2007 and head coach 2011. Coaching career: served as the associate head coach for the women’s program at Texas A&M since 2016 and as an assistant coach since 2011 for the Aggies. During her time in College Station, Texas A&M won five conference titles (2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019). In May of 2021 she was named Head Coach at the University of Houston.
Laura Sogar (2010-2013)
Came to Texas via Exeter Rhode Island and started her Longhorn career as the 2010 Big 12 Newcomer of the year and finished as the school record holder in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and 2013 NCAA champion in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:05.41). Along the way she was a Five-time Big 12 champion, twelve-time All-American and member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll in 2011 and 2012. Sogar was a 2011 U.S. Nationals finalist, 100m and 200m breaststroke and 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials finalist in the 200m breaststroke. She is a former American Record holder in the 200 Breaststroke. Competing for Team USA, Sogar earned a silver medal in the 200m breast and a bronze medal as part of the 400 medley relay at the 2012 FINA Short Course World Championships. Out of the water, Laura currently lives in New York City where she is a stand up comedian and entertains by means of the Risqué Business podcast.
Kathryn Kelly LaRocca (2005-2009)
Wrapped up her Texas career as a four-time All-American after placing sixth in the one-meter diving event at the 2009 NCAA Championships. She also won the one-meter event at the 2009 Big 12 Championships. The Big 12 Conference selected Kelly as the Women’s Diver of the Year in 2008 after she registered two All-America finishes at the 2008 NCAA Championships. Kat lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. with her husband Nick and children Lucas and Brooklyn. She works for Stryker medical devices and stays current with UT swimming and diving through her freelance work with ESPN and the Longhorn network.
On Deck Hero
Jack Roach
Served our country in the US Marine corps from 1966-1969. Presented a purple Heart and Presidential Citation. Served as head age group and assistant National team coach at Mission Bay Aquatics from 1986-1990 alongside legendary coach Mark Schubert. Together they won nine national team titles. Jack served as an Assistant coach at the University of Texas women’s swimming team from 1990-1992 and 1997-2000 helping the team win the 1991 NCAA title and . runner up in 1992. Simultaneously, he served as Head Coach and Director of Texas (Longhorn) Aquatics winning 1 USA Swimming Jr. National Combined Team Title and 3 USA Swimming Junior National Men’s Team Titles. Jack coached from 2003-2008 in Mexico. He coached the Mexico National Team and was Head Coach for the Mexican Olympic Team in 2004. In 2008 Jack was named the National Junior Team Program Director at USA Swimming and a staff member on the 2008, 2012, and 2016 US Olympic Teams. Talk with any of the top US coaches and they will point to the creation, administration, and execution of this National Junior Team concept as a key to the United States success in London and Rio. Jack and his wife Dr. Meredith Roach returned to the Austin area for her to practice medicine near her mother and father (Kathleen and Jack) and their shared love for the area.
$$ WETS Dews now Due for 2024 $$
Thanks for helping WETS stay afloat. We certainly appreciate last year’ s donors as it helped us provide team awards and put on a great reunion last fall. WETS New Year starts July 1st! Donate Here! Remember that if you donate at the Legacy level you are comped 2 dinner reservations while Century Donors receive one place at this years banquet. WETS loves UT swimming and Diving but is not associated with the University. WETS limits donations to no more than $200.00 so you can give where it truly counts. The Longhorn Foundation, endowed scholarships, the Eddie Reese outdoor pool fund or the newly created TEXAS ONE FUND. Don’t forget to check Swimming and Diving when donating!!!
WETSPOTS….. I hope you follow our Texas swimmers and divers through TEXASSPORTS.COM Men’s Swimming or Women’s Swimming. So many great accomplishments at home and abroad from our swimmers and divers. The US Nationals and World Championship swimming team trails just concluded. Look who is headed to Japan! 7 Longhorn swimmers, a diver and 2 coaches!
Carol Capitani will serve as head coach for the women and Eddie Reese joins the staff for the Men. Team USA includes Carson Foster, Luke Hobson, David Johnston, Drew Kibler, Lydia Jacoby, Jillian Cox, Erin Gemmell, Hailey Hernandez. In addition, 2 athletes that train with the horns Shane Casas and Leah Smith qualified for the US team. Will be fun to watch! Hailey Hernandez wins Nationals and headed to Japan! Read all about the swim trials HERE! WETS is officially on FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM thanks to Longhorn alum Peggy Hollar Little. Sign up and check out some great posts and pics and more good stuff to come. Another fun source for all UT sports history is the TLSN website created by Billy Dale The History of Longhorn Sports (squarespace.com)…… sign up and check it out and help out this great organization.
Update on the Texas One Fund by Darrell!
Texas Swimming and Diving Family and Fans,
We look forward to seeing you September 22nd and 23rd in Austin for a great weekend of activities.
Hotel links are here for 3 nights starting Thursday before the 2nd Annual Golf Tournament.
Reserve your rooms today! We’ve got 120 rooms around the city blocked off until August 21st.
As you can read in this WETS newsletter, the Swimming and Diving Champions Committee of Texas One Fund is ramping up the weekend with an expanded Golf Tournament at Morris Williams Friday Morning the 22nd with a shotgun 8:00 AM start and a fantastic Olympian Gala and WETS reunion kicking off in our own Texas Athletics Hall of Fame and Touchdown Club in the North End Zone. All proceeds from the Golf Tournament and Table Sponsorships at the Gala will go to benefit our Men & Women Swimmers & Divers NIL funding for the 2023-2024 academic year. We’ve teamed up with WETS and with Sports Information to put together a great tribute to our Olympians and our Erwin Award Winners. It’s “Black Tie Optional” this year for this very special occasion! Our current teams will join us on Saturday night as well to highlight the great history of our men’s and women’s program and our Olympic history!
Our committee is busy working on securing seed funding along with recurring forms of income through programs and services we’re building from scratch, just like all the other teams on the 40 Acres. We’ll be sharing more information soon on these activities which will allow our teams to have the best NIL program in the nation.
While we await further guidance from UT, the new Texas Law signed by Governor Abbott, along with the IRS memo reviewing the 501c3 status, the legal read from the Texas One Fund perspective is we are currently a 501c3 organization and have our public documents that speak to our mission. We encourage donors to consult a tax professional regarding the tax deductibility of donations to Texas One Fund while we work in what we believe is a safe harbor until any actual ruling is handed down, this coming from the President of Texas One Fund late June. Our entire committee will continue to work tirelessly for our teams and staff to be sure and present terrific community-based opportunities for the best NIL program in the nation for swimming and diving. Our athletic director, Chris Del Conte, addressed these items June 29th to all Longhorns as well.
As we continue to place men and women on the World Championship Swimming and Diving squads for Japan and the Pan Am Team in Chile, let’s get ready for an Olympic kick-off like no other.
Best wishes to our coaches, staff, swimmers, and divers for the rest of the summer!
By the way, be on the lookout for some future home football tailgate information for all home games!
Hook ‘Em!
Darrell
Hope to see you all in September!!!
Swimcerely,
Bill Robertson ’81 bill@camplonghorn.com