News
Fernanda Gamez Commits to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
 UALR is a NCAA Division I University which competes in the Sun Belt Conference. Fernanda’s best events include 200 back, 200 fly and 500 free. She will go in as one of the strongest middle distance swimmers and is also likely to contribute the Trojans 800 free relay. During her time at Dad’s Club Fernanda has been a Sectional and UIL Region Finalist. She is also an individual Katy High School record holder. Fernanda will be joining fellow Dad’s Club Alumni Charis Won (Dad’s Club Class of 2016). “I’m excited to announce my commitment to swim and study at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock next year. I couldn’t have done it without the help from my friends, family, and coaches. Go Trojans!” Fernanda currently attends Katy High School and plans on studying biology, chemistry, and later go on to medical school. Congratulations Fernanda! Dad’s Club Class of 2019 College Commitments Jeff De Groot – Emory University Caleb Duncan – University of Louisville Lexi Pickens – Dartmouth Collage Emma Stephenson – Texas A&M
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Gulf Age Group Champs
Ava Ceraudo - TAGS 50 Breast Victoria Cone - TAGS 100 Back Cade Duncan - TAGS 100 Free Kassidy Kitchel - TAGS 100 Fly, 200 Fly Alex Miao - TAGS 100 Free, 200 Free, 100 Fly, 200 Fly Renee Nealon - TAGS 500 Free 200 IM Sydney Smith - Sectionals 100 Free, 100 Fly, NCSA Junior Nationals 200 IM Reid Vandervoort - TAGS 50 Breast Eloise Williams - TAGS 100 Fly, Sectionals 50 Free Megan Zuanich - NCSA Junior Nationals - 100 Free Once the waves had settled and the points were tallied, Dad's Club finished 7th out of 44 teams. Our relays contributed heavily to our overall point total, as we had eight relays score in the Top 8, including two 1st place finishes from our 13-14 Girls in the 400 Free Relay (Smith, Kitchel, Reagler, Zuanich) and 400 Medley Relay (Reagler, Smith, Kitchel, Zuanich). Scoring big on the individual side, it's important we recognize Renee Nealon for placing 2nd in the 10 & Under Girls High Point, and Sydney Smith for also placing 2nd in the 13-14 Girls High Point. En route to her new NCSA Junior National cut in the 200 IM, Syndey Smith also set a new Dad's Club Team Record in that event for the 13-14 Girls age group. Setting a new team record is always a great achievement, possibly even more so given the long and rich history that Dad's Club has. Gulf Age Group Champs marked the end of the first half of our short course season. The coaching staff was very proud of all of the athletes that competed and we are looking forward to continuing our success as we venture into the second half of our short course season!
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Lexi Pickens Commits to Dartmouth
 Dartmouth is an Ivy League D1 university consistently ranked among the best universities in the country. Dartmouth was founded in 1769 making it one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. During her time at Dad’s Club Lexi has been a Sectional and NCSA Jr. National qualifier. She is also a Dad’s Club team and Gulf LSC record holder. Lexi’s best events include 50 & 100 free, 100 fly and 100 back. Her specialty events will not only contribute to the big green’s sprinting group, but also sure to help their relays. “I’m excited to be accepted to Dartmouth’s class of 2023! I look forward to continuing my academic and swimming career with the Big Green!” Congratulations Lexi!
Dad’s Club Class of 2019 College Commitments Jeff De Groot – Emory University Emma Stephenson – Texas A&M Caleb Duncan – University of Louisville
Dad’s Club All Time College Swimmers
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Noah Czelusta Town & Country's Scholar Athlete of the Month
Congratulations to Noah Czelusta for being featured in Town & Country Sports magazine as their January Scholar Athlete of the Month.  |
Jeff De Groot Commits to Emory University
 Congratulations to Jeff De Groot who recently committed to Emory University! Emory is one of the top Division III swim programs in the country. The Eagles have placed first and second at the last two NCAA D3 National Championships. Emory is mostly known as one of the top academic institutions in the U.S. They consistently rank among the top 20 Universities in the nation. During his time at Dad’s Club Jeff has been a Sectional, NCSA Jr. National, and Winter Junior National qualifier. Jeff is also one of two Dad’s Club Gulf LSC athlete representatives. Jeff’s best events include 100 & 200 back and 200 free. He is sure to be a great asset to the Eagles’ backstroke and mid distance group. Jeff is not the first De Groot from Dad’s Club to go on to swim in college. His father John swam at Dad’s and then Stanford University back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. “I am so excited to announce my verbal commitment to swim and study at Emory University! I would like to thank my coaches, friends, and family for helping me get to this point, I couldn’t have done it without them. I can’t wait for the start of my college swimming career. Go Eagles!!” Congratulations Jeff! Dad’s Club Class of 2019 College Commitments Emma Stephenson – Texas A&M Caleb Duncan – University of Louisville
Dad’s Club All Time College Swimmers |
Winter Junior Nationals
 This year’s Winter Juniors West was held at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin, Texas on December 5th-8th.
Participants: Isabella Alas, Emma Clark, Noah Czelusta, Jeff De Groot, Caleb Duncan, Amy Evans, Andreas Mason, Ellie McLeod, Emma Stephenson, Max Zuanich, and Megan Zuanich.
Dad’s Club placed 32nd overall out of more than 250 teams.
Dad’s Club swimmers performed very well over the course of the entire weekend. We had many great individual swims, as well as exciting relay swims. With this being a midseason championship meet, we hope to see our swimmers build on this success, and carry it into their High School and Club Championships at the end of the season.
Here are a few words about some of our most notable performances:
Emma Stephenson’s 100 Butterfly – In perhaps her best race of the meet, Emma finished 9th place overall, winning the B final, with a time of 53.33. This was her fastest 100 butterfly of the season, as well as the Girl’s 17-18 Dad’s Club team record.
| Emma Stephenson 100 Fly B final Caleb Duncan’s 50 Freestyle – Caleb swam a lifetime best of 20.53. His prelim effort earned him a spot in his first Winter Juniors individual final. His time also ranks him as the 3rd fastest Dad’s Club 50 freestyler in history.
Emma Clark’s 200 Backstroke – In her last race of the meet, Emma improved on her lifetime best with a time of 2:00.07, just missing the two minute barrier. She split her race perfectly, taking out the first 100 in :59.36 and coming back in 1:00.71. This swim ranks her 1st among 15-16 year old girls in Dad’s Club history.
Amy Evans’ 100 Breaststroke split on the 400 Medley Relay – After Amy’s strong breaststroke split of 1:04.09, our girls were in prefect position to finish 2nd in their heat. Even though she didn’t get to swim this event individually, her relay split was more than one second faster than her lifetime best.
Girl’s 400 Free Relay – Ellie Mcleod, Emma Stephenson, Isabella Alas, and Megan Zuanich put together a very strong performance in the 400 free relay. Mcleod became only the 4th Dad’s Club swimmer to swim below the 51 sec barrior. This was Stephenson’s first time to split below the 50 sec mark with a 49.91. Our 14 year old youngsters Alas and Zuanich stepped up and held our lead with impressive splits of 51.1 and 51.2 respectively.
Team records Emma Clark – 15-16 200 backstroke 2:00.07 Emma Stephenson – 17-18 100 fly 53.33 Emma Stephenson, Ellie Mcleod, Megan Zuanich, Isabella Alas – Girls Open 200 Free Relay 1:33.23 Ellie Mcleod, Emma Stephenson, Isabella Alas, Megan Zuanich – Girls open 3400 Free Relay 3:22.85 |
Masters and Tri Holiday Training Schedule
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Caleb Duncan Commits to University of Louisville
 Louisville is one of the top D1 swim programs in the country. They have placed top 12 at the men’s NCAA’s the last four years. In 2018 they cracked the top 10 with a 9th place finish. During his time at Dad’s Club Caleb has been a Sectional and UIL State finalist, NCSA Jr. National finalist, winter and summer Jr. National qualifier and currently holds multiple team and Gulf LSC records. Caleb has also been named NISCA All American and USA Swimming Academic All American. Caleb’s best events include 50, 100 free and 100 fly and will be great asset to the cardinals’ sprint group “I am very excited to announce my verbal commitment to swim at the University of Louisville. I want to thank all my friends and family for helping me get to this point. I can’t wait to start my collegiate swimming career” Caleb plans on studying Mechanical Engineering. Congratulations Caleb!
Dad’s Club Class of 2019 College Commitments Emma Stephenson – Texas A&M
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