Dec. 2011

P.O. Box 132614, Woodlands, TX. 77393 Dear WETS,

Happy Holidays! We give thanks for your WETS donations coming in and Longhorn swim and dive success. This organization was created in 1966 to get exes involved in promoting and supporting Longhorn and diving. This enthusiastic support brought us “The World’s Greatest (and still the best) Pool”, great coaches were hired and now Longhorn Swimming and Diving is the premier program in the country. We encourage all you recent grads all the way through our pioneers to send in a few bucks and be counted. Just send in the form on page 5 with your check. Please do not miss seeing our Longhorns in action and help promote the past to ensure our future!  2011 Erwin Awards & Tailgate a huge success!  Kris Kubik and in the Longhorn Hall of Honor  and enshrined in the Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame and our Longhorns win the namesake meet.  2011-2012 Longhorn Swim and Dive schedule  Marvin Rich hands the books over to our new treasurer $cott Mactier  2011-2012 WET$ Contributors (are you on the list?)  Austin’s new outdoor pool? It could happen!  WETSPOTS There has been so much newsworthy material to brag about that I have been unable to get it all together. It’s an Olympic year… and people tend to focus on swimming and diving a bit more. Please refer to the great swimming and diving coverage on the official UT website: www.texassports.com . Click the sports tab and select men or women. You will find the meet schedules, rosters and lots of great news and videos. The UT sports and information department does a great job not only covering our current Longhorns, but they keep us informed on the many post grads still competing for a spot on this years Olympic team.

2011 Reunion Weekend and Erwin Awards Our Annual WETS banquet and Frank Erwin Awards was our best ever. Thanks to all the effort that , Ted Doyle and all of our volunteers put in to ensure a great event. We had a capacity crowd at the T-Room to honor 5 great Longhorn Legends: Two of the greatest divers in UT history Vera Ilyna and Laura Wilkinson gave inspirational speeches. and were honored for their part in the great Longhorn teams 10 years ago. Carlos Arena was a member of the 1996 NCAA Champion team and graduate of UT’s MBA School. Sam Kendricks is known as the voice of USA swimming but was also a vital part of Longhorn Swimming as both a Manager on UT’s first NCAA Champion team in ’81 and as an assistant on several of the Women’s Championship teams. Our annual event is always held during the weekend of the first UT home football game. Save the date and don’t miss the 2012 reunion, especially if you were on a team that ends in a 2. Read more about that in WETSPOTS!!

L to R: Vera, Laura, Sam, Carlos, Jamie & Nate being congratulated as the latest recipients of The Frank Erwin Award The Frank Erwin award. Kris Kubik calls for the” Eyes of Texas” in the background.

2011 Longhorn Hall of Honor: Kris Kubik and William Paulus

Swimming took the spotlight at this year’s Hall of Honor banquet in Austin at the Four Seasons Hotel. With a packed house (mostly swimmers) we enjoyed the evening and everyone was inspired by the words spoken by Kris and William. Tex would have loved this event!

L to R: Doug Elenz, Nick Nevid, Philip Nenon, William, Congrats Kris!!! Well deserved! Kris and Nathan Breazeale

Come see the Horns in Action!! Men’s 12/01-3/11 Texas SDHOF Invitational Austin, Texas Win 01/07/12 vs. Georgia Austin, Texas 11:00 am CT 01/12/12 at Auburn Auburn, Ala. 5:00 pm CT 01/13/12 at Auburn Auburn, Ala. 1:00 pm CT 01/28/12 at Arizona Tucson, Ariz. 12:00 pm CT 02/03/12 at Texas A&M (SFLSS) College Station, Texas TBA 02/22-25/12 Big 12 Championships Columbia, Mo. All Day 03/11-3/12 American Short Course Championships Austin, Texas All Day 03/08-10/12 NCAA Zone 'D' Diving Meet Iowa City, Iowa All Day 03/22-24/12 NCAA Championships Federal Way, Wash. All Day

Women’s

12/01-3/11 Texas SDHOF Invitational Austin, Texas Win 01/03/12 vs. Colgate Puerto Rico 12:00 pm CT 01/07/12 vs. Georgia Austin, Texas 11:00 am CT 01/11/12 at Auburn Auburn, Ala. 5:00 pm CT 01/12-15/12 USA Swimming Austin Grand Prix Austin, Texas All Day 01/28/12 at Arizona Tucson, Ariz. 12:00 pm CT 02/04/12 at SMU Dallas, Texas TBA 02/22-25/12 Big 12 Championships Columbia, Mo. TBA 02/26/12 Big 12 Invitational Columbia, Mo. TBA 03/01-3/12 All-American Invitational Austin, Texas All Day 03/08-10/12 NCAA Zone Diving Meet Iowa City, Iowa All Day 03/15-17/12 NCAA Championships Auburn, Ala. All Day

A Thank you is Dews!!! Back to Thanksgiving: We honored our retiring Treasurer for keeping us Rich for over 20 years. Marvin Rich received a Longhorn clock for all his loyal work and for having such a good time. He and Shirley plan on continuing their great support of WETS and Longhorn Swimming and Diving. Marvin handed over the checkbook to $cott Mactier (’81) who we know will do a super job. After all, Marvin said the move make cents. Scott already is working on a WETSWEBSITE and has plans to keep enough money in the bank account to do our good deeds to promote Texas Swimming and Diving; Past, Present and Future. We also want to thank our donors. If you don’t see your name on the list then please send your splash of cash with the form below (no more than $100.00) to our new WETS address: WETS, PO Box 132614, Woodlands, TX 77393. The Longhorn Foundation will gladly accept larger donations… Just make sure to tell them it’s for swimming or Diving!! INDIVIDUAL Membership….$5.00 COUPLES Membership…..$10.00 FAMILY Membership……...$30.00 HORNS Membership…….. $50.00 CENTURY Membership…$100.00 New _____ Renewal _____ Name ______(married women please include maiden name in parenthesis) Email: ______Mailing Address ______City ______State _____ Zip ______Phone ______Name of Wife or Husband ______Yrs attended UT ______

WET$ 2011-2012 Contributors – Nov. 21st /2011 Arena, Carlos $50 May, Rick & Dana (Dutcher )$100 Barden, Jim $30 McCasland, Woody $100 Blodgett, Bob $100 McKinlay, Michael $100 Boss, Steve $30 Nenon, Philip & Susan $100 Brink, Bill $25 Nunez, Sharon Smith $5 Brodnax, Bobby $100 O’Halloran, Tyler $5 Brown, Annie (Getter) $100 Plummer, George & Patty $30 Brown, Courtney (Timmons) $50 Porter, Jeff & Nan $50 Brown, Liz (Hoffman) $20 Ragusa, Mark & Alisa $25 Burns, Michael & Tenley $50 Rauch, Jamie $100 Cornmann, Chris $100 Reeves, Richard $100 Cowand, Carol (Riddle) $20 Reeves, William & Denise $30 Cox, John & Colleen (Lanne) $30 Rich, Marvin and Shirley $50 Dickson, Kent & Andrea $50 Robertson, Bill & Carol (Borgmann) $100 Doyle, Ted & Stacey $100 Robertson, Jim $50 Dunworth, Dru & Laura $30 Robertson, Pat $100 Egg, Andrea (Luellen) $50 Robins, Thurman & Doris $30 Elenz, Doug & Amber $100 Santamaria, Richard & Susan $100 Esway, Brian $25 Scoggin, Matt & Becca (Culver) $100 Fick, Darrell $100 Scott, Tony & Mary $100 Flaherty, Ken & Karen $100 Sharpless, Roberts & Gloria $50 Gilbert, Eddie $100 +$100 Smith, Stuart & Amy $100 Gjertsen, Doug $100 Smith, Thomas $50 Gordon, Lance $100 Smitherman, Andrew & Macie $50 Graham, Don $10 Spann, Scott & Beth $100 Grogan, David & Denise $50 Spillane, Jim & Carolyn $100 Hagstette, Guy $100 Spitzmiller, Kent $100 Hedgepeth, Whitney $30 Stokes, Frank & Jeanette $30 Heller, Jeff $100 Styslinger, Laura (Dockerty) $100 Henry, John $100 Stapleton, Bill $100 Hoffman, Bill & Paula $20 Sterkel, Joanne $10 Hubbell, Marty $100 Tata, Peter & Joanne $100 Huntress, Tara (Nye) $100 Thibault, Jeff $100 Jamison, Lee $100 Thompson, Greg $100 Johnson, Bill & M.F. $100 Vance, Brian $100 Johnson, Scott $30 Walker, Neil & April $100 Karbach, Hyl $100 Watson, Iva $30 Kinney, Kathleen $10 Weber-Gale, Garrett $100 Kirchner, Kris & Dawn $30 Welborn, Clarence $25 Kitzman, Robert & Miyuki $50 Worrel, John & Michele $100 Lajoie, Joe $100 Grogan, Denise (Welch) $50 Little, Peggy (Hollar) $100 Welborn, Clarence $25 Lucksinger, Sally $50 Willerson, Dr. Jim $100 Mactier, Scott $100 Worrell, Dick $100 Machell, Fred & Claudia $100 Worthington, Ann (Drolsom) $100 Mangenello, Lou & Lynn $100 Yancey, Mark $10 Manning, Bobby & Nan $30

We appreciate the support and will continue to promote UT swimming and diving causes. Make plans to see the beautiful new (and still the best) pool, support our Horns and attend one of the scheduled meets or just stop by the pool sometime for a tour. WETS plans on helping however we can to get a display to honor our great teams (Conference and National Championship) and individuals (All-Americans, National Champions and Olympians) that brought notoriety to UT. Not sure the space is big enough to honor all the greats with our recent success…but they are going to try.

The Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame Invitational was held Dec.1st-3rd at the University of Texas. The TSDHOF honored the 2011 Inductees in a ceremony just prior to the last night of finals of this 3 day Invitational. We presented Eddie Reese and Josh Davis along with diving legend Nancy Duty Cunningham and 1976 Olympian Renee Magee. Eddie was given the largest applause and a standing ovation by the big crowd on hand and by the visiting teams. Both Longhorn Men and Women went on to win the invitational against very strong teams. More information including videos and previous inductees is available on the website: www.tsdhof.org The TSDHOF is a non-profit organization that was created to enshrine the legends, pioneers and rich history of aquatics in the state of Texas. The TSDHOF has no paid employees and exists alone on donations from those that wish to honor the past to inspire the future of Texas aquatics. So please send in your annual splash to keep them afloat and honor the folks (many of them longhorns) that have brought notoriety to our great state.

A new outdoor pool in downtown Austin?

This could happen, friends (finally)! A group headed by UT ex and including Dru Dunworth, Aaron Piersol and Shawn Jordan has teamed with the YMCA of Austin to plan a beautiful facility in downtown overlooking Lady Bird Lake. “It’s going to be a pool for lessons, water exercise, community outreach and family fun,” Dru says, “But its innovative design will also enable it to accommodate all levels of competition and, potentially, host national events such as the YMCA Nationals and even international events. It’s a pool we can all be proud of!” The 70-meter pool includes a 50-meter competition and training section and a diving well with a 10-meter tower. A separate aquatic playscape is also included in the first design phase, featuring a lazy river and water slides. More information about this project will surely be coming out soon. WETS folks hope to play a part in seeing that this project happens and we are thankful that someone “DRU” up some good plans and is recruiting support!

WETSPOTS Our annual reunion was our very best and plans are already in the works to make our 2012 get together even better. 1978 UT team captain Darrell Fick has agreed to chair a committee to help WETS and the T-Association recruit teammates from the 2’s to return to campus for the 2012 reunion weekend. Darrell says: “I think we can get more people at the Erwin Awards and Tailgater that could help WETS, Longhorn Foundation, and long term fundraising. Classes of „52 „62 '72, 82, 92, and 2002 will be celebrating their 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, and10 year homecoming next year. I think we can get the women's and men's teams back from those years and maybe kick off a new ritual that gets everyone back like they should be. It sure was great to see those folks on the field celebrating our national championships...great day for UT Swimming!”...... In keeping with this theme; Richard Santamaria does a great job recruiting the 60’s and 70’s swimmers and divers and he encourages getting more of you to contact Jill Sterkel [email protected] to get your name on our WETS and T-Association list. Jill does a fantastic job keeping us posted on Longhorn events and accomplishments…….The 2012 recipients of the Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award have just been named. Laura Wilkinson will be honored on Saturday, May 19, 2012, the weekend of Commencement. Texas Exes recognizes four individuals under the age of 40 who have made significant achievements in their careers and service to the University…….. One of our most loyal WETS members, Dr. Eddie Johnson passed away on Monday, the 7th of November 2011, in Houston, Texas, while surrounded by his family. He was 76. During his 4 years at UT, Eddie was a member of the Longhorn Swim Team and the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. In 1957, he was named an All American Collegiate Swimmer and was presented with the Bob Cone Memorial Award for Outstanding Team Spirit In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in Eddie's name be directed to Warriors Weekend, 3603 Miori Lane, Victoria, TX, 77901; Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame, at 45 Lake Forest Circle, Conroe, TX, 77384, (online at www.tsdhof.org); or to the Chapelwood Foundation, 11140 Greenbay St., Houston, TX, 77024……For those of you who did not know: Our 2011 Frank Erwin Winner, Nate Dusing informed us that his wife Michelle (a former UT Soccer player) is battling breast cancer. Michelle & Nate had their daughter Eva almost two months ago. She is thriving and growing right on track. Michelle has undergone chemo treatments since delivering her. She's hanging in there, but life with treatment and two young girls is wearing her out a bit. We wanted to pass along her Caring Bridge website/blog to you. She does an amazing job documenting her journey. It's worth the read. (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/michelledusing). Please keep the Dusing family in your prayers…. During this year’s reunion UT honored all of our National Swimming and Diving Championship Teams on the field during the 2nd Quarter of the opening football game. Pictured below are representatives from almost every team since our first wins in 1981(how many exes can you name?)…..

We can never brag enough about our Longhorn Diving programs. Through the years our divers have been the key to our success. It was great to see Mike Brown and Anita Rossing at the TSDHOF Invitational. Mike brown is a true Texas legend and WETS thanks him for his contributions and continued support. Mike recruited and mentored our current coach, Matt Scoggin. USA Diving announced Matt as the recipient of its Coach of Excellence award, as voted upon by coaches in attendance at the recent 2011 AT&T National Diving Championships. Scoggin's divers excelled at the AT&T National Diving Championships in Los Angeles. UT senior Drew Livingston won the synchronized platform diving title and earned a spot on the U.S. roster for the Pan American Games. Troy Dumais won the synchronized three-meter event, and Livingston added a silver- medal finish in the synchronized three-meter event. It is the second year in a row that Matt has won the award…..I would encourage you to see Coach Pat’s hilarious speech honoring Eddie Reese at the spring TSDHOF induction. It can be viewed by going to www.tsdhof.org and clicking on the 2011 inductees. That site also has Josh Davis’s inspiring speech and lots of photos….. Have a blessed holiday season and see you next year!!!

Swimcerely, Bill Robertson WETS NEWS DEPT. [email protected]