cat5aquatics

Welcome to CAT5 Aquatics, Coach John Burke

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 12:15:27 GMT

A new era begins....

CAT5 Aquatics is excited to welcome John Burke as our new Head Coach and begin the next chapter of our program.

Coach John comes to CAT5 with more than 35 years of coaching experience, having worked with swimmers from the developmental age-group level through national and international competition.

Most recently, John served as Head Coach of Pearland Aquatics in Texas from 2015–2026. During his time there, his swimmers competed successfully at TAGS, Sectionals, NCSA Junior Nationals, USA Swimming Winter and Long Course Junior Nationals, and the U.S. Open.

Throughout his career, John has coached athletes to some of the highest levels of the sport, including two U.S. Olympic Trials qualifiers. He also coached an athlete who represented the U.S. Virgin Islands at the 2015 and 2017 FINA World Championships. John is an American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Level 4 Age Group and Senior Coach.

While John's experience and accomplishments are impressive, what makes us particularly excited about his arrival at CAT5 is his approach to developing athletes and building a swim program.

His coaching philosophy centers on long-term athlete development, individual growth, competitive excellence, and building a strong swimming family. He believes swimmers should be encouraged to set meaningful goals, embrace challenges, develop confidence and independence, and ultimately take ownership of their progress.

He also believes that successful swimming programs are built through a shared commitment among swimmers, coaches, and parents, a philosophy that aligns closely with the community we want to continue building at CAT5 Aquatics.

John understands that commitment from both sides of the pool deck. He and his wife, Ann, have four children, and their three daughters grew up immersed in competitive swimming. His years as both a coach and swim parent have given him a firsthand understanding of the practices, travel, meets, sacrifices, celebrations, friendships, and memories that make swimming an experience for the entire family.

As John settles into his new role, we are excited for our swimmers and families to get to know him and for him to get to know the CAT5 community.

We have a strong foundation, talented swimmers, committed families, and an exciting opportunity ahead of us. We look forward to seeing where Coach John's leadership takes CAT5 Aquatics next.

Please join us in welcoming Coach John and his family to CAT5 Aquatics and to Panama City!

Thank You, Coach Scott

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 18:36:40 GMT

Celebrating His Impact on CAT5 Aquatics

As CAT5 Aquatics prepares to begin a new chapter, we want to take a moment to recognize and thank Coach Scott for his dedication, leadership, and commitment to our swimmers and our team.

Throughout his time with CAT5, Coach Scott has brought a genuine belief in his athletes and in what this program could become. He has invested countless hours on deck, at meets, and behind the scenes helping our swimmers develop, not only as competitors, but as young people.

Under his leadership, our program has continued to grow and our swimmers have continued to challenge themselves, set bigger goals, and achieve success at increasingly competitive levels. Through all of that growth, Coach Scott has remained committed to meeting swimmers where they are, believing in their potential, and encouraging them to discover just how much they are capable of accomplishing.

His impact can be seen in much more than times on a scoreboard. It is in the confidence of a swimmer who accomplished something they weren't sure was possible. It is in the relationships built between teammates and families. And it is in the stronger program he leaves behind.

We are incredibly proud that Coach Scott's next chapter will keep him on the pool deck. He will be joining the coaching staff at the United States Military Academy at West Point as an assistant swim coach. It is an exciting opportunity and one that reflects the knowledge, experience, and dedication he has brought to our program.

While we will miss having Coach Scott on deck at CAT5, we are excited for him and grateful for everything he has given to our swimmers, families, coaches, and organization.

Coach Scott, thank you for the early mornings, the long meet weekends, the encouragement, the high expectations, and most importantly, for believing in our swimmers.

We wish you nothing but success at West Point. You will always be an important part of the CAT5 Aquatics family.

Opelika Open 2026

Mon, 18 May 2026 16:13:14 GMT

2026 Opelika Open

Over the weekend 31 of our swimmers competed in the Opelika Open. Our team swam very well! Highlighted by 62 Top 8 finishes, 3 3 ^rd Place finishes, 7 2 ^nd Place finishes, and 6 1 ^st Place finishes! As well 2 new Long Course SES Qualifiers and new SES cuts, 4 New Team Records and High Point Winner! Our Men’s team finished 4 ^th Place out of 21 teams and our Women’s team finished 9 ^th out of 20 teams! Great Job Cat 5!!

New Long Course Southeastern Qualifiers

Silas Carroll 13-14 Boys 200 Breaststroke

Owen Freisthler Open Boys 50 Fly

New Long Course SES Cuts

Roman Acoff- 50 Free, 100 Free, 50 Fly, 50 Back, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Fly

Mia Juergens- 400 Free

Peanut Rademacher- 50 Fly

Brendan Stahl- 50 Fly, 50 Back

High Point Winner

Cullen Descalzo Open Boys

New Team Records

Pohaku Rademacher 13-14 Boys 50 Fly (27.05), 50 Back (29.71), 100 Free (55.53)

Cullen Descalzo Open Boys 50 Back (28.52)

Cat 5 Aquatic LC Open 2026

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:55:17 GMT

Long Course Season 2026

Great job to all our swimmers this weekend at our home swim meet! Our team swam very well with loads of best times and top 3 finishes! Thank you so much to all our volunteers this weekend! Thank you to everyone that helped make this weekend possible!

Cat 5 LC Open 2026

Cat 5 Aquatics had 42 Top 3 Finishes and over 79% Best Times across the weekend! The meet also saw new SES qualifiers, new cuts, and team records! Great Job to all our swimmers!

Team Records

Maxim Kurochkin 9-10 Boys

100 Breaststroke 1:32.33

50 Breaststroke 43.00

100 Backstroke 1:25.87

Pohaku Rademacher 13-14 Boys

50 Freestyle 25.24

New SES Qualifiers

Congratulations to Paris Warren who qualified for SES for the first time in the 9-10 Girls 50 Freestyle with a time of 37.69.

Shoutout to Charlie Levins who also hit the SES qualifying time in the 9-10 Girls 50 Fly!

2026 SES Winter Championships

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:40:22 GMT

2026 SES Winter Championship Highlights

Team Summary
• 470.5 Team Points (288 in 2025)
• 13th Place out of 52 Teams
• 23 Qualified Swimmers
• 27 Top 8 Finishes | 16 Top 3 Finishes
• 2 SES Champions
• 1 New NCSA Junior National Qualifier
• 9 New Team Records

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Individual Highlights

Pohaku Rademacher – 13–14 Boys
SES Champion – 50 Free, 50 Back
2nd – 100 Free
3rd – 50 Fly
Top 8 – 200 Free, 100 Fly

Mia Juergens – 13–14 Girls
2nd – 400 IM
3rd – 200 Fly, 500 Free
Top 8 – 200 Free, 100 Fly
Top 16 – 50 Fly

Rueben Deneau – 11–12 Boys
3rd – 100 Free, 100 IM, 50 Fly, 100 Fly
Top 8 – 200 IM, 50 Free

Cullen Descalzo – Open Boys
Top 8 – 100 Back, 200 Back
Top 16 – 400 IM, 200 IM

Maxim Kurochkin – 10U Boys
2nd – 100 Breast, 500 Free
3rd – 50 Breast, 200 IM, 50 Fly
Top 8 – 100 IM

Jolette Charqueno – 10U Girls
Top 8 – 100 Free, 50 Fly
Top 16 – 100 IM

Dawn Goines – 13–14 Girls
Top 16 – 200 Free, 200 Fly, 100 Free

Bella Blitch – Open Girls
Top 16 – 50 Free, 100 Free

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Relays

13–14 Boys 400 Medley Relay – 10th
(Rademacher, Carroll, McIntire, Williams)

13–14 Mixed 200 Medley Relay – 13th
(Rademacher, Brewer, Goines, Juergens)

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New Team Records

Maxim Kurochkin – 10 & Under Boys
100 Breast – 1:21.47

Mia Juergens – 13–14 Girls
50 Fly – 27.02
100 Fly – 59.02
200 Fly – 2:08.49
400 IM – 4:35.99

Pohaku Rademacher – 13–14 Boys
50 Fly – 23.72
50 Back – 24.16
50 Free – 21.66
100 Free – 47.18

New NCSA Junior National Qualifier
Pohaku Rademacher – 50 Free (21.66)

2025 Rick Byers Meet Recap

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 14:19:35 GMT

2025 Rick Byers Invite

October 11th-12th 2025 Cat 5 Aquatics competed at the Rick Byers Invite hosted by Coast Aquatics in Destin. We had 35 swimmers attend and swam very well!

Our team finished 2nd Overall!

We had 20 1st Place Finishes

13 2nd Place Finishes

13 3rd Place Finishes

High Point Winners:

10&Under Boys Maxim Kurochkin

11-12 Boys Rueben Deneau

Runner Up:

10&Under Boys Roman Acoff

11-12 Boys Silas Carroll

Great Job to all our swimmers!!

Tropic Like It's Hot Open Results

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 17:07:33 GMT

Great Job to 20+ swimmers who competed in a swim meet for the first time!! It was great seeing so many new faces racing for the first time! Our team had many best times and great team cheering! The energy the swimmers brought to the pool all weekend was amazing to see!

Congratulations to our High Point and Runner Ups

Maxim Kurochkin 9-10 Boys High Point

Cullen Descalzo 15&Up Boys High Point

Roman Acoff 9-10 Boys Runner Up

Rueben Deneau 11-12 Boys Runner Up

We also had 2 New Team record!

Pohaku Rademacher 13-14 Boys 100 IM 57.80

Mia Juergens 13-14 Girls 50 Fly 27.84

Welcome to CAT 5 Aquatics

cat5aqpcb@gmail.com (Scott Fortier) — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 22:57:23 GMT

Welcome to the new era of swimming in Bay & Walton County

We are excited to welcome everyone to our New Team name and website! We here at PCST soon to be Cat 5 Aquatics are so excited that everyone will get the opportunity to use this new website.

The goal with this switch is to make signing up your swimmers for our programs and meets to be a easier and cause less issues.

As we are currently in the middle of our season the website may take some time to get use to but by the end of July we will only be using this for all things related to the program.

Welcome to the next chapter in Bay County swimming!

Coach Scott Fortier