GREATER PENSACOLA AQUATIC CLUB

It’s hard to believe that another new swim season has begun. GPAC team members opened the 2014-15 short course season with the second annual team photo day and time trials meet at the UWF Aquatic Center on August 23. The morning began with over 130 new and returning swimmers lined up for a handful of new “goodies,” including the team shirt and cap. In addition to the team uniform, swimmers were treated to some cool GPAC shades and a ball cap, courtesy of the team support fund! Senior team parent...

Perhaps it was because it was his first event of the meet. Or perhaps it was the excitement of being selected to his first-ever Zone team representing Southeastern Swimming and GPAC. Either way, Walker Parra finished what was left over from his tremendous Southeastern Championships two weeks earlier to put his name in the GPAC record books for a fourth time in a season. Parra, 12, established a new team record in the 400-meter freestyle (4:39.26) at the Southern Zone Age Group Championship in San Antonio, TX July 29-August 2,...

The GPAC team record book contains a list of tremendous swimmers, some of which have gone on to be Olympians. So it goes to say that if your name is there, you are among giants. Led by record-setting performances by Coulson Barfield, Makayla Ludwick, Walker Parra and Heidi Schellin, twenty nine GPAC swimmers had an exciting and successful Southeastern Swimming Championships in Knoxville, TN July 17-20. GPAC, being the 13th largest team, finished an impressive 10th place overall. This was a six-team jump from last year’s meet. GPAC also had...

In their first meet since early June, and their last home meet for the summer, 86 GPAC swimmers saw great time improvements, and celebrated several individual successes at the Summer Finale Invitational held July 5-6 at UWF. “I think we had a great last meet,” said Head Age Group coach Greg Johnson. “We had an overwhelming number of best times and new Southeastern cuts.” GPAC is proud to have had five individual high point winners from across three age groups at the meet. Maren Mackey and Noah Scoggins swept the...

Drawing teams from as far as Memphis, TN and Athens, GA, GPAC’s annual Tom Lalor Invitational continued to be the big summer event for many of the swimmers on GPAC. Swimmers from GPAC posted an impressive 63% best times, and the team gathered four new Southeastern qualifiers bringing the team total to 38. Junior group member Walker Parra, 12, emerged as the sole high point winner for GPAC, though several other swimmers were in the running for the award. Parra swam eight out of 11 individual best times, and nabbed...

Twenty four GPAC swimmers traded their usually daily routine at UWF, and their beaches, for a five-day trip to the mountains of Asheville, NC to do some serious swimming, and have a great time doing it during the week of June 9-13. Members of the Junior and Senior groups, escorted by Coach Phil and Coach Greg, traveled by vans to a unique mountain retreat at YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, NC.  While there, they swam two practices a day, one at the camp in a 25-yard pool, and...

In their second meet in as many weeks, GPAC swimmers opened the long course season at home at UWF with tremendous participation, numerous best times and five high-point winners. Although not heavily attended by other teams, GPAC swimmers set a new home meet participation record by having 107 swimmers compete in the meet. This number beats all other GPAC home meets since September, with the previous mark set at the District Championships in February at 103 swimmers. “The coaches are all excited by the number of swimmers at all levels...

Forty eight GPAC swimmers opened the 2014 long course season with sensational early-season times and earned top spot among visiting teams at the “Spirit of Mobile Invitational” swim meet held in Mobile May 2-3.  Among the 77% best times swam in the meet, GPAC boasted 2 individual high-point winners, 13 different individual event winners, and numerous new Southeastern cuts and new motivational times. Makayla Ludwick and Walker Parra were the high-point winners for the 11-12 age group for GPAC. Ludwick, 12, won six out her eight individual events, setting five...

Fourteen GPAC swimmers from the Junior and Green groups took their Spring Break in Atlanta, GA to attend the Eastern Section of the Southern Zone Age Group Championship. The swimmers made up the largest group that GPAC has taken to the meet in five years. This meet is attended by over 100 different teams from across the Southeast. “The Age Group Sectional meet has been the focus of many of the swimmers all season,” said Head Age Group coach Greg Johnson. “The fact that we had twenty swimmers qualify for...

Sophomores Brooke Ferrara and Tatiana Oberley went to Orlando for their spring break. But it was not to visit Disney. Rather the two GPAC Senior team members competed at NCSA Junior Nationals and gained great top-level experience. Ferrara, 16, swam six events at the meet, including sprint freestyle, backstroke and butterfly. Brooke finished 77th in the 50-yd butterfly and posted a best time in the event. She also finished 83rd in the 50-yd freestyle. Tatiana, also 16, in her very first national meet appearance, finished 79th in the 100-yd breaststroke....