Bio

Thomas Radam begins his third season as head coach of the Centenary men's and women's swimming programs in 2024-25.

The Ladies finished sixth at the SCAC Championships last season, recording 247 points to edge Austin College by one point, while the Gents finished seventh, tallying 161 points to finish well ahead of eighth-place St. Thomas (32 points)

Freshman Hannah Waddell (Shreveport, La.) capped off a stellar rookie season at the SCAC Championships by setting a new school record in the 200-yard breaststroke as she swam a time of 2:24.99. She also swam the second-fastest time in program history in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.51) and the eighth-fastest in the 200 IM (2:11.69). Waddell also recorded 10 individual wins during the season. She was also named to the SCAC Winter All-Sportsmanship Team. She was named Centenary’s “Female Newcomer of the Year” at the annual end-of-the-year athletics banquet in April.

Waddell teamed with fellow rookie, Reece Esser (Huntsville, Texas), and junior Madeline Vacula (Belton, Texas) to form an impressive core for the Ladies as the trio recorded numerous individual wins, runner-up finishes, and top-five and top-10 finishes. Esser made an immediate impact in her first collegiate meets as she recorded one individual victory, a pair of runner-up finishes, and two more top-five finishes and was appropriately named the SCAC Women's Swimmer of the Week.

Senior Anacelia Galeano-Balam (Baton Rouge, La.), sophomore Adriana de la Fuente (Baton Rouge, La.), and Vacula were all named to the 2023-24 Academic All-District® Women's Swimming & Diving Team by the College Sports Communicators, as all three earned the prestigious honor for the first time in their careers.

Highlighting the men’s side, sophomore Jameson Feeney (Shreveport, La.) and senior Aiden Peterkin (Zachary, La.) were named to the 2023-24 Academic All-District® Men's Swimming & Diving Team by the College Sports Communicators  as Feeney earned the honor for the first time in his career while Peterkin landed on the prestigious team for the second year in a row. Peterkin was also named to the SCAC Winter All-Sportsmanship Team.

A pair of rookie - Nick Gordon (Aurora, Colo.) and Ubaldo Ayala (Hallsville, Texas) had impressive debut seasons for the Gents as Gordon was named the SCAC Men's Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 9 as he recorded five top-three individual finishes in the Gents' first two meets of the season. Ayala earned three top-10 finishes in his first weekend of action. Senior Antonio Barbee (Plaquemine, La.), Feeney, and Peterkin all turned in solid seasons as each picked up individual wins, runner-up finishes, and several top-five and top-10 finishes.

The Gents finished second in five meets during the regular season and in its Jan. 10 home meet against Millsaps, they earned an impressive 14 individual top-10 finishes.

Radam led Centenary to a pair of seventh-place finishes at the SCAC Championships in 2022-23 as the Ladies earned 221 total points and the Gents tallied 73. Radam anticipates one of the largest recruiting classes in several years to arrive on campus this fall in advance of the upcoming season.

Sophomore Madeline Vacula (Belton, Texas) highlighted the event, as she earned All-SCAC honors for the second season in a row and won the 1650 free in a personal-best time of 17:55.66. The super sophomore now owns 24 individual wins in her career with 17 coming this past season. Her 1650 time is the second-fastest in school history (D1 or D3) and she also owns all-time top-10 times in the 500 free and 1,000 free. She was named the SCAC Women's Swimmer of the Week once during the past season.

Centenary had five seniors swim this past season - senior Isabella Brown (Metairie, La.), senior Christine Goodman (Alexandria, La.), senior Katie Malicoat (Wichita, Kan.), senior Camryn Hebert (Youngsville, La.), and senior Bryn Jenkins (Houston, Texas). Goodman was named the Ladies' representative on the 2022-23 SCAC Winter All-Sportsmanship Team, Jenkins was named the SCAC Character & Community Female Student-Athlete of the Week which recognizes the efforts of student-athletes who excel in the field of athletics, and also serve their campus and community.

Goodman, Hebert, and Jenkins were each named to the 2022-23 Academic All-District® Women's Swimming & Diving Team by the College Sports Communicators. The team recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in the pool and in the classroom.

Junior Antonio Barbee (Plaquemine, La.) had an impressive season for the Gents with six runner-up finishes, 13 top-five finishes, and 16 Top 10s. Freshman Jameson Feeney (Shreveport, La.) turned in an impressive rookie season with three individual wins, three runner-up finishes, and a total of 11 top-five's.

Junior Aiden Peterkin (Zachary, La.) was named to the 2022-23 Academic All-District® Men's Swimming & Diving Team by the College Sports Communicators. The team recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in the pool and in the classroom. Peterkin also recorded eight top-five finishes this past season which included a pair of runner-up finishes. He was also chosen as the Gents' representative on the SCAC Winter All-Sportsmanship Team.

Radam, a native of Alexandria, Va., is a graduate of Virginia Tech University and received his master’s degree from the University of North Carolina. He served as the Club Owner and Head Coach at TRI-STAR Masters Swimming, a USMS Certified Gold Club in Flower Mound, Texas since its establishment in 2013. Radam previously served as head coach for Irving Swimmers/Irving Masters, an USA Swimming and USMS club in North Texas.

Radam starred collegiately at Virginia Tech as he was named the Student-Athlete of the Year for the Hokies in 1985 and set school records. He is also a USMS National Champion – 200 back, 400 IM, 25K Open Water Swimming.