By Terin Frodyma on SwimSwam
The Texas Swimming Hall of Fame announced its 2026 Inductees that will be celebrated and honored on April 17th at the San Jacinto Ballroom on the campus of the University of Texas – Austin. Headlining the class are Keith Bell, Stephen “Mac” McDonald, Mark Naftanel, Kirk Stackle, and Lifetime Achievement award recipient Jeannette Chase.
Bell, regarded as the “Father of Swimming Psychology,” was a major piece to the development of Central Texas Master Swimming as both a coach and an athlete. Over his career, Bell has accumulated 33 Masters World Titles, two World Records, and 64 National Records. He has built a career in sports psychology, publishing several books, journal articles, and magazine articles on performance psychology. Among his most popular works is his book Winning Isn’t Normal. In 1988, he was awarded the US Masters Swimming Coach of the Year, and is an 11-time recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame Buck Dawson Book of the Year Award, with his book titled Nuts and Bolts of Psychology for Swimmers winning this award three separate times (1980, 1983, 1986).
McDonald adapted the first interscholastic water polo rulebook for the NISCA and established the inaugural Texas Swimming Coaches Association Water Polo Committee. McDonald played a key role in establishing water polo as an official UIL sport. He has been named the Texas Water Polo Coach of the Year five times and was recognized by the Houston ISD Aquatic Championship Facility, which was renamed to the McDonald Family Aquatic Center.
Naftanel joins the class after a highly decorated diving career that began at age 9 with the Texas Diving Club, and later included two Texas State High School titles, which led him to in-state Texas A&M. In his time with the Aggies, he was a seven-time All-American and won eight Big 12 championships, leaving the University as the winningest athlete in its history. He was also named to the US National team in 1998 and was inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame as a part of the 2004 class. In 2006, Naftanel was also recognized as a member of the Big 12 Swimming and Diving 10th-anniversary team, which included Olympians Brendan Hansen and Ian Crocker.
Stackle, a four-year swimmer at the University of Texas, was a 14-time All-American, a three-time NCAA champion, and a three-time team champion in 1988, 1989, and 1990. In 1988, Stackle represented the US at the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, where he finished 19th in the 200 breaststroke (2:19.47). Stackle was inducted into the University of Texas Hall of Honor in 2022 and founded Stackle Swim Technique, which includes training services, assessments, and guidance on nutrition, recovery, and stretching.
Chase, the recipient of the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award, began her career in Synchronized Swimming after watching Esther Williams’ movies. She joined the Shamrock Hilton Corkettes in 1950. 14 years later, Chase and Jan Armstrong, the wife of Astronaut Neil Armstrong, founded the El Lago Aquanauts Synchronized Swimming Team. Throughout her time in and around the sport, she has served as an athlete, coach, official, show producer, and judge, and also held officer roles with the AAU and US Synchronized Swimming before officially retiring from the sport in 2021.
Tickets for this ceremony can be purchased here.
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