The WSU Masters Swim Club was formed by three friends: Jody Howard, an undergraduate in Animal Science; Keith Gravel, an undergraduate in Civil and Environmental Engineering; and Doug Garcia, a WSU staff graphic designer. All three were involved in fitness swimming and water polo, and all saw the need for organized lap swimming. Gravel, a WSU lifeguard, secured pool time during the early morning hours. The first WSU Masters workouts began in mid-March of 1993.

Within the first year of the club's existence, the group established ties with Inland Northwest Masters Swimming and hosted its first meet in the spring of 1994. The first year membership was a small 10 to 12 swimmers.

The three founders served as volunteer coaches, each doing one workout a week. As time progressed, Howard and Gravel graduated and moved from Pullman leaving the coaching responsibilities to Garcia. The club has seen other coaches come and go with academic cycles.

In 1997, upon the urging of USMS mentor coaches Michael Collins and Emmett Hines, Garcia took the helm of the organization as head coach and started recruiting members and promoting the club. The fall semester of 2000 saw a club membership approaching 50 swimmers and a need for additional workout sessions outside the early morning hours.

If you are an alumnus or alumna of the WSU Masters Swim Club and would like to get back in touch with the club, send us an email and let us know what you are up to. We want to hear from you! Approximately three to four times per year a general email goes out to all registered alumni letting everyone know of alumni updates (marriages, births, triathlons accomplished, etc). Email your update to:
douggarcia@usms.org

See what others are up to, visit the Alumni Updates page.