Age Group 2 College Swimming (AG2CS), a global college recruiting service launched in July of 2015, has announced their initial Swimmers of the Month for November: Monona Martin a High School Junior at Gainesville High School in Gainesville, Florida and Neil Wachtler a Senior at Midway High School in Waco, Texas.
Monona Martin is a junior at Gainesville High School in Gainesville, FL, where she swims for USA Swimming Club: High Tide Aquatics, for Head Coach Bryan Welter. She is part of the Cambridge program at Gainesville High School.
At the recent Florida High School State 3A Championships, Monona was an important part of her team winning their First State Championship, led by Head Coach Rob Ramirez finishing 7th in the 100 Butterfly in a personal best time of 57.62, finishing 4th in the 50 Freestyle with a personal best of 24.03 and leading off the State Championship winning team of the 400 Freestyle Relay in another personal best time of 52.14.
Monona takes part in the community around Gainesville by participating in volunteer clubs at her high school. She also devotes a lot of her time into making good grades and being a top student athlete at GHS. “All around, Monona always strives to be the greatest she can, no matter the obstacle. Her work ethic is pretty admirable”. Says her mother Catherine Martin.
Monona is a dual citizen (USA and Austria, as her mother is from Austria) and loves to travel and snow ski. Family members are Catherine her mother, Steve her father and her brother Cillian, who is a freshman at Buchholz High School and an elite triathlete.
Neil Wachtler is a senior at Midway High School in Waco, Texas. Neil has been swimming for the past 10 years and is a member of USA Swimming Club: Heart of Texas Aquatics (HEAT) for Coach Jim Puleo. Neil is also the team captain of the Midway High School swimming team led by Coach Dan Marlin.
At the recently held North Zone TISCA Invitational in Lewisville, Texas, Neil achieved lifetime best swims (unrested) in the 100 Back finishing second with a time of 50.74, the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:43.19, and led off the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 48.49.
Neil loves watching football and creating fantasy football leagues. He enjoys golfing with his family, friends, and swim coach. This past summer, Neil summited “4 fourteeners” in Colorado with his dad and uncle. An excellent student, as a senior, Neil carries a 3.8 GPA. His family members are his father Peter, mother Erica and two younger brothers, David and Eric.
Congratulations Monona and Neil on becoming the first AG2CS Student Athletes to win our Swimmer of the Month award!
About AG2CS: Age Group 2 College Swimming (AG2CS) is a global college recruiting service dedicated to the sport of Swimming. We created AG2CS to “Change the Landscape of College Swim Recruiting”, in assisting with “Bridging the Gap” between Age Group swimmers and College Swimming Coaches. Our mission is to assist College Swimming Coaches in the Identification, Evaluation and Recruitment of Age Group Swimmers across the United States and around the world.