The Bryan/College Station community has a rich history in developing young swimmers. TSDHOF inductee and former Texas A&M coach Art Adamson taught swim lessons and club swimmers for many years. Texas A&M and the City of College Station Recreation Department hosted the first TAGS State Championship Meet, with Adamson as meet director. In the late 1960s, Pat Patterson was hired as Texas A&M’s head coach and volunteered for the College Station Swim Club. He was followed by Steve Montgomery, who coached the team until Mel Nash was hired as A&M’s head coach in 1980.

As the A&M college team began summer practices under Nash, four local high school swimmers asked if they could train with the team. After welcoming them and their four younger siblings, a wave of new kids joined, and the team took off. Under the guidance of Carol and Mel Nash, Aggie Swim Club was born as a new Gulf Swimming and USA Swimming club. Over the next few years, AGS grew to more than 100 swimmers under coaches Mike Shrader, followed by Rick Walker and Patrick Henry, Tracy Johnston, and Bill Miller. Current A&M men’s head Coach Jay Holmes helped coached the club while also serving as Mel’s assistant. Jay continues to be the club’s president today, and current A&M women’s head coach Steve Bultman is the club’s current director.

Because of the incredible growth under the previously mentioned coaches, AGS hired Bob Leland as a full-time coach in the late ‘80s. Leland was a former A&M swimmer who had been on the U.S. national team in the ‘70s. In the ‘90s, Leland started College Station/Bryan Aquatics (CSBA), which operated out of the College Station community pools, while AGS continued to operate out of the A&M pools. In 1996, Leland hired Ryan Goodwyn, a former A&M swimmer to help grow the age group side of the program. Goodwyn, along with the AGS club president Bud Allen, facilitated a merger between AGS and CSBA in 2000, and the club doubled in size overnight. Goodwyn stayed on as the age group coach for AGS until 2017 while also coaching many AGS kids on the A&M Consolidated High School team until 2019.

When the new A&M Natatorium opened in 1995, Mel Nash continued to coach the Aggie Swim Club in the summers as well as the A&M men’s team and was an advisor to the year-round club until his departure in 2004. In 2004 the AGS men finished third at the USA Senior Nationals and combined with the women to finish second overall.

Over the years there have been many notable parents, volunteers and club presidents such as Bob Randall, John Crompton, Debbie Bravenec, Linda Jones and Bud Allen. One of the most notable volunteers for the club was Bob Stallings, who was a USA Swimming official for the club as well as the club’s treasurer. Bob passed away after officiating at the Speedo Junior National Championships in Indianapolis in 2007.

In 2000 the club brought on Dr. Henry Clark, a research scientist in physics at A&M who was an Olympic Trials finalist in the ‘80s. Henry became the head coach of the program as well as the club’s meet director, hosting large national-level meets at the A&M Natatorium such as USA Sectionals for 20 years, Winter Junior Nationals and Futures. Henry has served on the board of Gulf Swimming for nearly 20 years in various positions, such as general chair, administrative vice chair, senior chair, finance vice chair and technical planning chair. Henry’s wife, Shannon, joined the club in 2002 as the club’s administrator and head age group coach, and the pair together have grown the club to over 275 swimmers at two locations.

A few Aggie Swim Club swimmers of note:

  • Steve Bultman – Olympic Coach – 2008 Estonia, 2012 USA, 2016 Mexico

  • Chris O’Neil - Goodwill Games Gold Medalist 100 Fly

  • Devin Howard - Pan-American Games Bronze Medalist 200 Fly

  • Jarrod Kappler - Pan-American Games 5th place 50 Free

  • David Kohel - local College Station swimmer and Olympic Trials qualifier

  • Bryan Jones – local College Station swimmer and high school state champion in 50 and 100 Free

  • Diego Perdomo – 1996 Olympian (Columbia)

  • Alfredo Jacobo – 2000 Olympian (Mexico)

  • Riley Janes – 2004 Olympian (Canada)

  • Matt Rose – 2004 Olympian (Canada)

  • Francisco Picasso – 2008 Olympian (Uruguay)

  • Maria Sommer – local College Station swimmer and Olympic Trials qualifier

  • Christine Marshall – Olympic medalist, 800 Free Relay

  • Breeja Larson – Olympic gold medalist, 400 Medley Relay

  • Cammile Adams – 2-time Olympian, 200 Fly

  • Amini Fonua – 2012, 2016, 2021 Olympian (Tonga)

  • Hayden Duplechain – local College Station swimmer and Olympic Trials qualifier

  • Haley Clark – local College Station swimmer and high school state champion in 100 Fly

  • Julia Cook – local College Station swimmer, member of USA Swimming National Junior Team, high school state champion in 50 Free and 100 back and Olympic Trials qualifier

  • Harrison Jones – local College Station swimmer and high school state champion in 100 Fly, LSU school record holder in 200 Fly

  • Peter Simmons – local College Station swimmer and high school state champion in 100 Fly and 100 Back

  • Jonathan Tybur – 2018 USA Swimming National Team Member

  • AJ Robinson – local College Station swimmer and USA Swimming Futures champion in 400 Free and 200 Fly

  • Angel Martinez – 2021 Olympian (Mexico)

  • Shaine Casas – USA Swimming National Team Member, 2021 Olympic Trials Finalist, 2021 Men’s NCAA Swimmer of the year

  • Baylor Nelson – 2023 USA Swimming National Team Member

  • Beryl Gastaldello – 2-time French Olympian

  • Triin Aljand – 2-time Estonian Olympian

  • Erica Dittmer – Mexican Olympian

  • Lili Ibanez – 2-time Mexican Olympian

  • Julia Wilkinson – 2-time Canadian Olympian & NCAA Champion

  • Sarah Henry – NCAA Champion & US Nationals high point scorer & USA National team

  • Claire Rasmus – USA National team

  • Kristen Heiss – USA National team

  • Sarah Gibson – USA National team

  • Lisa Bratton – USA National team & Short Course World Champion

  • Sydney Pickrem – 2-time Canadian Olympian & medalist, World Championships medalist & Short Course World Champion

  • Aviv Barzelay – Israeli Olympian

  • Rita Medrano – Mexican Olympian

  • Bethany Galat – USA National team World Championships & Pan Am Medalist

  • Alia Atkinson – Jamaican Olympian & NCAA Champion

  • McKenna DeBever – Peruvian Olympian