Scott Donie

Donie moved to Texas at age 12 and dove with Terry Faulkenberry on the Woodlands Diving Team. He won his first national age group title when he was 13 and made the senior national team when he was 15. He ranks as one of the most successful and accomplished divers ever to compete for SMU. Donie competed for the Mustangs from 1987-90, and he was an 11-time SWC diving champion and three-time NCAA champion. Donie earned all-America honors in 1987-90. His success did not stop at SMU, as Donie was a member of the U.S. national diving team from 1985-96. He was an 11-time national U.S. diving champion and he won the Phillips Performance award and multiple High Point awards. He is a two-time Olympian, winning the silver medal in the 10-meter platform in 1992 while competing for the United States. After retirement from diving, Donie moved to New York City and became the head coach at NYU where he remained for 16 years. He is now head diving and age group coach at Columbia University. He is a member of the NYC Olympic bid committee and he continues to deliver motivational speeches at schools and camps. Scott and his wife Kaili are proud parents to their daughter, Lucy.

George Block

Block served as director of aquatics and assistant director of athletics for the Northside School District. He developed the Northside Aquatic Center into an internationally recognized center for athlete development. Block developed nine Olympians, 50 UIL state gold medalists, more than 285 all-Americans, Olympic Trials qualifiers in 1984-88-92-96-2000 and 2008, and numerous national and junior champions. He has produced Olympians in three different sports (swimming, triathlon and pentathlon) and Olympic swimmers from four different countries (United States, Nicaragua, Egypt and Algeria). He was awarded the Phillips 66 Performance Award and was named the Coca-Cola Texas Coach of Honor. The United States Water Fitness Association named Northside the top school district/community facility in the nation and Coach Block its top aquatics director. He also received NISCA’s Outstanding Service Award. Coach Block served as vice president of USA Swimming and as the president of both the American and World Swimming Coaches Associations. He earned the Silver Award of Excellence for 20 years of national finalists, was inducted into both the ASCA and San Antonio Sports Halls of Fame and awarded the United States Olympic Committee’s “Rings of Gold.”

Tom and Carolyn Boak (Lifetime Achievement Award)

Tom and Carolyn have been competitors and contributors in United States Masters Swimming since the 1970s. Tom chaired various national USMS committees and served as USMS President from 1985-1989, then as USMS Treasurer from 2006-2007. He is presently serving on the board of United States Masters Swimming and as treasurer of United States Aquatic Sports. He also won three masters world championships in breaststroke in 1988. Carolyn has served on the USMS board of directors, chaired the international committee, and served on both the championship and rules committees for multiple years. She has set many masters world records in freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, and individual medley. Both have been meet directors of USMS National Championships (Tom five times) and continue to serve at meets and on the board of their local masters club, Woodlands Masters Swim Team. They have been active in the Gulf LMSC for many years. Both have been inducted into the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame, Carolyn as a competitor and Tom as a contributor.

Alamo Area Aquatics Association (Wally Pryor Distinguished Team)

A unique entity in Texas swimming, the Alamo Area Aquatic Association (AAAA) was established in 1977 to serve as an organizational and administrative umbrella for multiple programs. At the time the organization was first established, there were three separate, distinct, and independent age group swimming programs in San Antonio, one of which, the San Antonio Aquatic Club (SAAC), was the second oldest of its kind in the state of Texas. The three teams were often at odds with one another over several matters of mutual concern, but particularly the scheduling of meets within the city. It also became obvious that there would undoubtedly be certain advantages to be realized when championship relay teams were selected if all three could somehow resolve their differences in the interest of bettering the sport. Each member team is in some way affiliated with a school or community college district or a university, but the San Antonio Aquatic Club no longer exists. In September of 2001, the North East Independent School District (NEISD) absorbed the team and re-established it under district management as the North East Aquatic Team (NEAT). The AAAA now has some 1,300 registered swimmers working out and competing in several separate, multi-lane facilities. The Alamo Area Aquatic Association and the Alamo Area High School Swim League has produced 20 Olympic athletes representing seven different countries in three different aquatic sports since 1976.