Carolyn Boak
Coach
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Carolyn Boak
began her coaching career in 1963 with summer league teams, has
been coaching Masters Swimmers since 1983, and us since 2000. Carolyn started competitive
swimming at age 13 and competed for five years, highlighted by
swimming finals at Senior Nationals. Carolyn became a Masters
swimmer in 1977 (with Los Altos Masters) and went on to set
numerous national and world records and is the recipient of many
USMS awards including their most prestigious, the Ransom Arthur
Award, for all her many contributions to Masters swimming –
including being the meet director for the largest USMS National SC
Championships held to date; in 1987 at Stanford. Carolyn is married to Tom (also a
Masters Swimmer and coach – see below) and shares her time
with us and her children, and grand children, back in
California
.
Thomas D Boak
Coach
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Tom Boak is
one of our founding members and has been coaching us since 2002.
Tom crowned his youth career by being a
Middle Atlantic Conference Champion in 1963 and then took up
Masters swimming in 1977. Tom, as a
breaststroker, has been a national and world champion and record
holder. Tom has been the meet director
for national short and long course championships, is currently
serving as Treasurer of USMS, has chaired the Championship, Rules,
and Finance Committees, and served as President of USMS from
1985-1989. Tom is a recipient of the
Meet Directors Award and of the Ransom Arthur Award. Tom is married to Carolyn (also a Masters Swimmer
and coach – see above) and is a long time Woodlands resident
and "Home Town Hero."
Steve Breeding
Coach
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Steve Breeding
has over 30 years experience as a coach and competitive
swimmer. As an age
group swimmer in
Louisiana
he achieved all-state swimmer for six years. Coaching in
Louisiana
, Steve led teams to three consecutive Ark-La-Tex Summer League
Championships and coaches several Louisiana All-Star teams. His coaching experience in
Texas
began in 1993 as the swim coach for
Conroe
High School
. As the founding
coach of a small age group team he produced TAGS qualifiers in its
second season. He
began coaching Masters Swimming in October of 2000 at the
South
Montgomery
County
YMCA
. Under his guidance
the program has grown from 2 practices to 8 practices a week. He has worked with swimmers
from the beginner level to Olympic trial qualifier and is a member
of ASCA, USMS and USS.
Rebecca L Buckner
Coach
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Becky began her swimming career with the local year-round swim
team in
Springfield
,
Missouri
, where she competed at regional and national AAU
meets for five years. In 1993 she
joined WMST, re-igniting her passion for the sport. She began
coaching for the team in 1999, and returns to us after a brief
stint in
Anchorage
,
AK
, where she coached a
USA
youth team and taught for Swim America.
During her 15 years in The Woodlands, she coached for the
Shadowbend YMCA youth league and the Gators and Marlins youth
teams. She has a strong interest in stroke mechanics and over the
years has attended numerous coaching and stroke clinics. Her specialty is helping novice masters
improve their technique and is available for private lessons.
Ross C Davis
Coach
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As
a walk-on at Clarion University of Pennsylvania he earned a spot on
the State Conference Team his first year in 100/200 Backstroke and
200/400 IM. Granted a scholarship his sophomore year but missing
National qualifying in the same events, was asked to swim 200
Butterfly his junior year. He qualified for Nationals just 4
months later in the new event and went on to earn NCAA All American
Honors 8 times. After
a hiatus in the corporate world, Ross started coaching in 2002;
later becoming ASCA certified and began competing again in
2003. In 2005 he won
his first Masters National Titles and in 2006, while competing in
FINA Masters World Championships he broke 2 Masters World
Records. He married
Laura (Koch)
Davis
in 2008, loves dogs and is also an avid hunter while enjoying all
types of outdoor activity.
Janis R Gebhart
Coach
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Laura Koch Koch-Davis
Coach
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Laura Koch started competitive swimming at age 10
in Sugar Land, was a High School All-American in 1994, and went on
to earn an academic/athletic scholarship to attend Iona College in
New Rochelle, NY. While at
Iona
she set numerous school records, was team captain
for swimming and water polo, won Most Valuable and Most Dedicated
Honors throughout her collegiate career, named MAAC Conference
Champ, and All-Academic Water polo 1999. She graduated from Iona in 1998
with a B.A. in History, and with Honors from
Iona
Graduate
School
in 2000 with an MST in History/Education. Laura joined WMST in 2006
and has been active in Masters swimming since 2002. She is ranked
Top Ten nationally and FINA in numerous events, and also serves as
a delegate for the Marketing committee. She started her coaching
career while in high school for summer league teams and has worked
with many
USA
, USMS, and summer league teams in
New York
and
Texas
since 1993. She is a certified
USA
and ASCA Level 3 Coach. Laura Koch (now
Davis
) married Ross (see above) in March, and moved here from
Austin
with their two dogs Guinness and Sienna.
Michael T Nordmann
Coach
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Michael
Nordmann joins WMST with 10 years experience at the Clayton Shaw
Park Swim Team in
St. Louis
,
Missouri
. A
former AAU National Champion and current AAU National
record-holder, Mike qualified for the USS Junior Nationals in the
200 freestyle, 100 and 200 backstroke and Senior Nationals in the
200 backstroke. While
swimming for the
University
of
Utah
, Nordmann was All-Conference in the 200 backstroke all 4 years for
the Utes. After a
12-year absence from the water, Mike returned to competitive
swimming by racing at the 2007 Masters National Long Course
Championships competing in several events and winning his age group
in the 200 backstroke. Mike lives in The Woodlands with
his wife Amy and four daughters Lucie, Lillie, Mary and Zoe.
Gale E Strickland
Coach
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Gale
Strickland has been in Masters since 2000. She began swimming at the age of 8 and continued
through college. During those years she
qualified for Jr. Olympics, long course and short course AAU
Nationals. Gale was a
State
High school
champion 4 years, holding state records, and was a national high
school record holder. In her senior
year she qualified for the 1980 Olympic Trials. She swam four year for the SMU Mustangs. Gale was inducted into the High School
Swimming Hall of Fame in
Washington
State
. Majoring in Education she has
teaching experience in all levels. Her
years of coaching experience are with Dallas Dr. Pepper, summer
league, and Gators group. She is
married to Don and has two children Anna and Hayes also competitive
athletes.
Greg J Tharp
Coach
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Greg Tharp
loves Masters swimming and coaching. He swam competitively throughout
his childhood, was on 2 state champion teams in high school, and on
four Big Eight championship teams with the
University
of
Kansas
. Besides swimming,
Greg enjoys bicycling and an occasional triathlon. Greg is a clinical psychologist
with a strong interest in sports psychology and would like to
assist Masters Swimmers in fully developing the mental aspects of
their competitive or fitness swimming.
