Fall Newsletter 2022
Dear Wets,
We had three fantastic reunion events a few weeks ago! The inaugural and now annual Pat Patterson/ Eddie Reese Golf Classic was exactly that… CLASSIC. The Alumni Swim Splash in the Eddie Reese Outdoor Pool could not have been more entertaining! Finally, it was great to be able to honor six outstanding individuals with the Frank Erwin Award and reunion dinner. Check out these great photos by Ross Lucksinger of all three events HERE!
Know someone who has made outstanding contributions to Longhorn Swimming and Diving? It’s never too late to nominate worthy candidates for future Frank Erwin Awards. A list of former recipients and a nomination form and guidelines can be found here.
Let’s put some fans in the stands!! Come support our Longhorn teams in Austin starting October 7th as the annual Dust off your Boots Invitational brings in TCU. If you are heading to Dallas for the Red River Showdown you might want to catch some of our men swimmers at the SMU classic on Friday and Saturday. Let’s meet at a meet!
Men’s Swimming and Diving Schedule Women’s Swimming and Diving Schedule
$$ WETS Dews are due $$
Thanks for helping Texas Swimming stay afloat. Please use our website to pay your dues. WETS is a 501-C non-profit organization. Do not send more than $150.00, as big donations are still needed to help UT Swimming & Diving by donating to the Longhorn Foundation Excellence Fund or the new Eddie Reese Outdoor Pool. Don’t forget to check Swimming and Diving when donating!!! Our treasurer, $cott Mactier, reports that we are in good financial condition even after putting on the events a few weeks ago, giving a sizable donation to the outdoor pool, buying team awards and mailing our letter. Your little splash of cash helps us promote UT Swimming and Diving, gives honor to our great past and helps the future of Burnt Orange Aquatics!
Thank you to these 2023 WET$ heroes! If you don’t see your name; we certainly would love to add you to this impressive list!
Legacy
Paul & Beth Crowson Banick
Annie Getter Brown
John & Colleen Lanne Cox
Ted & Stacy Doyle
Darrell Fick
Ken & Karen Flaherty
Lance Gordon
Sandy Gottesman
Donald & Ingrid Graham
Brendan & Martha Hansen
John & Blake Henry
Jim & Heather Henry
Dax Hill
Marty & Megan Hubbell
Debbie Risen Hurwitz
Lee & Krystyna Jamieson
Jo Jaremko & Terrianne (McGuirk)
Kingsbury
Joe & Melinda JaJoie
Fred & Claudia Machell
Scott & Karan Mactier
Ricky & Dana Dutcher May
Glenn & Claire Sanders McCall
Pat Patterson
Rick & Rhonda Ravel
Richard & Candance Reeves
Bill & Carol Robertson
Robby & Deidra Robertson
Anthony & Mary Beth Scott
Stuart & Amy Smith
Kenny Anna Smith
John & Tori Trees Smith
Scott Spann
Bill & Ana Stapleton
Hill Taylor
Greg & Carole Thompson
Thomas & Shawn Turner
Ben Van Roekel
Neil & April Walker
Garrett & Kara Weber-Gale
David & Betsy Willis
Marcus & Elaine Yancy
Century
Jeff & Jennifer Barren Blanchard
Thomas & Julie Cooper Bliemel
Bob Blodgett
Trey Collins
Michael & JaNette Connell
Dru & Laura Dunworth
James & Lynne Flodine
DD & Kelly Hoffman
Granger & Tara Nye Huntress
John Kenny
Bob & Miyuki Kitzman
Fred & Loretta LeMaistre
David & Peggy Hollar Little
Wayne & Amy Madsen
Stephen & Stacy Martyak
David McClellan
Kristi Busico Metzger
Jeremy & Annette Cowley Nei
Philip Nenon
Nick Nevid
Ande Rassmusen
William & Denise Reeves
Cheryl Ridall
Kelly Rives
Richard & Susan Santamaria
Mark Shaughnessy
Pliny & Julia Smith
Ken & Patricia Sptzmiller
Jeff & Kelly Thibault
David Thomas
Edwina Thomas
Roger & Ann Gerardeau Wacker
Dick & Michele Worrel
Horns
James & Mary Barden
Andrea Ciro
Pat & Aven Coulson
Aaron & Gretchen Gustafson
Walter & Debbie Halpenny
Carol Heller
Paul & Jennifer Johnson
Kit Patterson
Sheila Rice
Thomas & Bonnie Smith
Jill Sterkel
Frank & Jeanette Stokes
Family
Whitney Hedgepeth & Mark Luther
Michael & Tara Rosinski
Jim & Lauren Ross
Leroy & Nancy Sutherland
Individual
Frederick & Leslie Bradshaw
Carol Cowand
Mark Denson
Andrea Fisher & Mark Norton
Colleen Griffin Hergott
Anders & Beth Rasmussen
Mike Rock
Sharon Smith
Wendell Smith
Conor Swanson
Marylyn Toledo
Here are our Top suggested ways to financially support Texas Swimming & Diving: #1 WETS limit your contributions to WETS to no more than $150.00 so you can give where it truly counts.
Texas Swimming and Diving through the Longhorn Foundation: HERE
Select Gift Designation: Athletics, Intercollegiate for Men and Women, The outdoor pool fund or scholarship endowments.
All your gifts are 100% tax deductible and every cent goes to support a current student-athlete making the same ripples you once made on the 40 Acres. We challenge you – UT Men’s & Women’s Swimming/Diving alumni – to have the highest participation percentage of all Longhorn sports. Any amount is helpful, and participation is crucial.
WETSPOTS….. If any of you have pictures, news, or address changes; please send to WETS or email me …
Here is a really neat article in SwamSwam about one of the newest members of the Men’s team: Peter Paulus’ Remarkable Comeback Culminates in Roster Spot at Texas (swimswam.com). ..…Some history; UT’s first National champ Skippy Browning had an interesting path to the Fort Acres. He was attending Wayne University along with future Longhorn star, Johnny Crawford. Both desperate to make it back to their native Texas and join the team they scripted this letter to Tex. In what is the 1949 version of an NIL deal, Tex convinced the Longhorn Club to fund a scholarship for Johnny (the first ever for the swim program). Johnny then donated his scholarship to Skippy. In 1950 he finished 2nd to Bruce Harlan of Ohio State by only 0.6 points. However, the following 2 years Skippy won titles for both 1 and 3 meter. Browning went on to win gold on 3 meter at the 1952 games in Helsinki. His life was cut short in 1956 when his Jet crashed on a training run. Skippy was about to relocate to Los Angles to begin train for the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.
Skippy (center) winning gold in 1952. The picture on the right includes Skippy, 1948 Olympian, Eddie Gilbert, Wynatt Wilson, Johnny Crawford and sure would like to know the swimmers name on the far right?
Sam Kendricks Celebration of Life
Details/RSVP Here
I know there will be a big crowd on hand November 5th to celebrate the life of Sam. Sam would want us the also cheer on the Men and Women as they take on rival, Virginia prior to this celebration.
UT Hall of Honor 2022 Congrats to BJ Bedford and Kirk Stackle on their induction into the Longhorn Hall of Honor a couple weeks ago!! Looks like a really great class and a fun event. You can check out some great photos and more info on all these Longhorn legends HERE
Learfield IMG Directors’ Cup
The University of Texas won the Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup for the 2nd year in a row. This is a great achievement for all the athletic staff and coaches and athletes…. Sure was great to see Billy Dale and his wife JoEllen at our Frank Erwin Award dinner. He does a masterful job of compiling historical Longhorn sports and bringing it to us via the Texas Legacy Support Network (texaslsn.org). Be sure and sign up for this great newsletter… Another great newsletter by Tim Taylor comes to us every Friday during football season. You will especially enjoy todays preview of the Red River Rivalry. You can sign up here: AustinHornsFan – Texas Longhorn Sports – Hook Em Horns!
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And finally… How about an informal gathering of friends before the Iowa State Football Game October 15th. ….
Swimming and Diving Alumni Pre-Game Gathering Site!
It took some searching, but we have found a new spot to get together before home football games. The location is on the East side of the LBJ Library just above the Longhorn City Limits Venue. This is a very informal, BYOE (bring your own everything) gathering that will allow us the meet up and catch up before the 11am kickoff next week. Might just turn out to be a great spot for the future!