Gaston Gators Swim Team

08/29/2026

This is an incredible feature film, and an amazing opportunity for our region. Come join Gaston Aquatics!

Gaston Aquatics is honored to announce that we will be hosting a movie screening in partnership with 'When Everyone Swims' and Gaston College. 'When Everyone Swims' is a film highlighting the importance of water safety in communities. We are very excited for the opportunity to bring more aquatic programming to our community to do our part in water safety. Stay tuned for ticket information coming soon!

07/30/2026

Interested in an Eval for the 26-27 Season? Sign up here!

Join the Gaston Gators for a FREE New Swimmer Evaluation and Trial Period! The Gators will host our 2026 evaluations at Gardner Acres Swim Club (937 Ridgeway Dr, Gastonia NC) (please note this is also our normal practice location until our move to Gaston Aquatics) Ages 7+Must be able to swim one len...

07/14/2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GASTON GATORS MAKE HISTORY WITH FIRST SUMMER JR. NATIONAL QUALIFIER IN OVER 20 YEARS, ANNOUNCE MERGER WITH GASTON AQUATICS

GASTONIA, N.C. — The Gaston Gators are making waves this summer with a pair of historic announcements that will reshape the competitive swimming landscape in Gaston County. For the first time in over two decades, a Gators swimmer has punched a ticket to USA Swimming's Junior Nationals. Riding the momentum of Philip Johnson's elite qualification, the Gators are officially announcing a strategic merger between two of the region's premier non-profits to build a unified, high-performance program under the Gaston Aquatics banner.

Philip Johnson Breaks the Drought:
Qualifying for Summer Junior Nationals is one of the most statistically rigorous benchmarks in amateur sports. USA Swimming’s time standards are mathematically engineered to invite only the fastest developmental athletes in the country — representing a fraction of the top 1% of the hundreds of thousands of registered competitive swimmers nationwide.

Philip Johnson’s qualification is a testament to raw talent and relentless passion and training, definitively ending a 20-year drought for the organization. His achievement proves that athletes training right here in Gastonia can successfully go head-to-head with the top college recruits and blue-chip prospects in the nation.

Unifying Two Non-Profit Powerhouses:
To ensure Philip is the first of many national-level qualifiers, the organization is evolving. The Gaston Gators will officially merge with Gaston Aquatics, transitioning to operate as the dedicated competitive division of the overarching Gaston Aquatics non-profit organization.
At the helm of this newly consolidated powerhouse, Coach Trey Taylor has been named the Director of Competitive Swimming. This merger creates immediate, massive synergy by uniting the resources, vision, and infrastructure of both non-profits. By bringing the Gators under the Gaston Aquatics umbrella, the organization has created a seamless pipeline from grassroots community programming directly to the elite national stage.

Quote for Press Use:
"Philip’s qualification to Junior Nationals is a massive milestone for him, but it’s also a proof of concept for what athletes in this community can achieve. By bringing the Gaston Gators and Gaston Aquatics together, we are unifying two incredible non-profits with a shared vision. Operating as one organization gives us the streamlined infrastructure to put all our focus on the water. We are building a premier destination for competitive swimming in North Carolina."
— Trey Taylor, Director of Competitive Swimming, Gaston Aquatics

02/24/2026

This was a banner weekend for the Gators! 10 swimmers travelled to Cary for North Carolina Senior Champs and brought home 1st place in the Small Team Division!! This is the fastest meet in North Carolina and brings the fastest swimmers from across the entire state to compete together. It is consistently recognized as one of the fastest Sr Meets in the Nation.

This is a historic outcome for the Gators, we have not had a top placement since the 90s and have never won a division at Sr Champs since the implementation of that system.

This was a team effort in all ways, we could not have accomplished this without being a team. Our younger swimmers inspire our older ones to be leaders, our older swimmers give the younger ones goals to strive for. You all push each other in practice, support each other throughout the season, and give your coaches the opportunity to do the best job in the world. This was won by and for all Gators and we the Coaches are proud of each and every member of our team.

The Lady Gators fielded 3 relays and scored 13 points for the Gators. Abby Campbell, Lillian Robinson, Ila Turner and Alyssa Walker swam the 400 Fr, 200 Fr, and 400 Medley Relays (13th!). Ila scored in her individual swims as well! We absolutely could not have won our division without the outstanding efforts of these 4 Gators!!

Our Gentlemen fielded 5 relays and scored 99 points. Philip Johnson, Noah Legnosky, Dillon Miller, Nate Miller, Jack Morris and Noah Tabor competed in the 800 Fr (11th), 200 Medley (13th), 400 Fr, 200 Fr (14th), and 400 Medley Relays (9th). Philip scored in multiple of his individual events. The Gator Gentlemen stepped up and crushed their seed times in multiple relays to swim swiftly past the other teams in our division.

We are so proud to Coach all of you and so proud that you represented the Gators in such outstanding fashion.