Spring Newsletter
Dear WETS, May 2023
It won’t be long before we 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 that 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.
We will be sure and send a link for golf reservations and dinner tickets when they go live. Tickets for the Saturday dinner and social go on sale July 1st and are priced $75.00 each. Remember that our WETS donor year begins July 1st and that’s when Legacy donors ($150) 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 who have contributed through the years to the greatest aquatics program in the world!
2023 Frank Erwin Recipients
Marty Hubbell: 1993-1996. 12-time All-American. Captain of the 1996 NCAA Championship team. Proud member of the USA National team. Has not missed paying WETS Dews since graduating, even through law school.
Ricky Berens: 2006-2010. 20-time All-American. Member of the 2010 NCAA Championship team. 2008 and 2012 USA Olympic team member, earning two gold medals and one silver medal.
Kathryn Kelly: 2005-2009. 4-time All-American Diver. 2009 Big XII Diver of the year. 2-time Academic All-American.
Tanica Jamison: 2000-2003. 11-time All-American. Earned team leadership award in 2001 and 2002. Team captain in 2003. Current University of Houston head coach after serving as an assistant and associate head coach at A&M for 10 years prior.
Laura Sogar: 2010-2013. 12-time All-American. 2013 NCAA Champion in the 200 breaststroke. Silver medalist in the 200 breast at the 2012 FINA Short Course World Championships.
Jack Roach: Former lifeguard and Marine. Assistant women’s coach at UT 1990-2000, helping the team win two NCAA titles. In 2008 Jack was named the National Junior Team Program Director at USA Swimming.
$$ WETS Dews $$
Thanks for helping WETS stay afloat. WETS New Year starts July 1st! So, if you already paid and are on this impressive list of 2023 heroes, wait just a few weeks to pay your 2024 Dews. If you don’t see your name and want to be included in the 2023 list Donate Here! WETS loves UT swimming and diving but is not associated with the university. WETS limits donations to no more than $150.00 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!!!
2023 Team Awards (provided by WETS)
Most valuable Men’s swimmer: Luke Hobson
Most Valuable Women Swimmer: Emma Sticklen
Most valuable Men’s diver: Noah Duperre
Most Valuable Women’s Diver: Hailey Hernandez
Most improved Men swimmer: Jackson Huckabay
Most Improved Women’s Swimmer: Ava Longi
Most Improved Women’s diver: Sarah Carruthers
Most improved Men’s diver: Nick Harris
Women’s Team Spirit Awards: Sasha Lyubavskiy and Emma Sticklen
Men’s Team Spirit Award: Peter Larson
Men’s Leadership: Jake Foster
Women’s Leadership: Erica Sullivan
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. 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…… sign up and check it out and help out this great organization.
Matt’s Diving News:
We all know Texas has the World’s best diving coach and team after reading this:
Rising UT junior, Hailey Hernandez, placed 6th in the world on 3m in Montreal at the World Aquatics Cup. At the USA nationals/World championship and Pan Am Games trials in Morgantown May 18-24 the Longhorn divers had some excellent performances.
Texas Medal Winners – 2023 USA Diving National Championships National Champion 1m springboard – Hailey Hernandez, Silver 3m synchronized – Nick Harris, 3m springboard — Hailey Hernandez, Bronze 1m springboard – Bridget O’Neil, 1m springboard – Nick Harris 10m platform – Jordan Skilken, 3m mixed synchronized – Bridget O’Neil, Noah Duperre
The Longhorns won the women’s national team title, the men’s national team title and the combined national team title. Hailey Hernandez has qualified to represent team USA at the world Championships July 14-22 in Fukuoka, Japan on 1m and 3m springboard. Hailey has also qualified for the World Cup Super-final on 3m August 4-6 in Berlin, Germany and she has also qualified for the Pan American Games on 1m and 3m in October in Santiago Chile. In addition, Noah Duperre placed 4th 1m, 6th 3m, Nick Harris placed 8th 3m and Bridget O’Neil placed 7th 3m and Janie Boyle was 9th 10m. . We have 3 freshman coming in this August. Pierce Brooke, Texas State champion from Cedar Park, TX, Tanner Braunton, Colorado State champ from Parker, CO, and Virginia state Champ, Amanda Stalfort from Centreville, VA.
Update on the Texas One Fund by Darrell!
Texas Swimming and Diving Champions Committee Update on Texas One Fund:
We are six months in and are slowly gaining momentum to build the nation’s premier NIL campaign. Each committee member has provided a real strength to our team’s success in and out of the pool and we’re happy to share some of our initiatives to date. Our goal is to build a sustainable and recurring fund-raising organization with creative ideas and lasting benefits to this new era of intercollegiate athletics.
1) Our Swimmer’s and Divers Letter Campaign helped our contributions increase from both our 776 living letter winners and other supporters of the Longhorn Family. As the funds arrive, it allows us to place our team members into the community where they can network with city leaders and organizations where their strengths can be maximized. A big thank you to our donors and our recurring gift givers who now have significant benefits provided to them based on their donations to our 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
2) We’re working towards our own eCommerce site where fans and loyalists can purchase custom Texas Swimming and Diving apparel and swag. We’ve already cleared early compliance meetings and are working on licensing and MRG’s (minimum royalty guarantees) that need to be completed. Hayes and Missy Johnson came forward and offered this unique approach and we could be the first nationally to make this happen. More to come…..
3) We will sell tables at the Olympian Gala and WETS reunion this year at $10K each which will go into the Swimming and Diving Funds specifically. The link for information to sponsor and will be coming this summer. Our goal is to seat our donors with the Olympians and put a sizeable amount into our fund for the fall. 20 tables at $10K each would be an excellent starting point.
4) We held a meeting with the coaches and Assoc AD Drew Martin to have our own Swimming and Diving Tailgate at the outdoor pool for every home game, complete with our own setup for food and beverages. Details are being worked out, but we believe we can get the same friendly fan-pricing seen along Bevo Blvd and be able to create our “Tailgate Culture” where everyone knows where the swimming and diving family meets before every home football game. This isn’t meant as a fund raiser, just simply a new tradition where we can always count on seeing people from our own S&D family.
5) Great feedback helped us build out some real benefits for joining T1F, and most specifically, to donate to our favorite teams. You can give just to Swimming and Diving by going to the Texas One Fund page and selecting the team of your choice:
https://gift.idonate.com/texas-one/texasonegeneral