Watch  Acceptance Speech 

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Tony Tommasi was born in Nashville TN, on December 11, 1975. Later his family moved to Bedford,TX where he attended Spring Garden Elementary School. He advanced to Cistercian Preparatory then Trinity High School.  He began swimming at an early age.  By the time he was eight years old , his stroke had him passing all of the others in the pool that were his age.  After a few more year of becoming more precise and fit, he knew this was perfect sport for him. However, everything came together in his high school years. 
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It was coach Larry Ridge who asked if he wanted to still swim “distance” events or “sprint”. He chose sprint. After 12 years of swimming, his 50 yard freestyle and 100 yard freestyle took off and he set two new records benchmarked on the fastest times board. Some of his other accomplishments were as follows:

• 1988 Mid-Cities Swim Team High Point Award 3rd Place 11-12 Boys
• 1988-89 Mid-Cities Swim Team High Point Award 2nd Place 11-12 Boys
• 1989-90 Mid-Cities Swim Team High Point Award 1st Place 13-14 Boys
• 1990-91 Mid-Cities Swim Team High Point Award 2nd Place 13-14 Boys
• City of Richardson Swim Team Winter Classic 1990 1st in 50 Free; 3rd in 100 Free and 3rd in 200 Free
• 1993-94 Mid-Cities Swim Team Top “3” Award 15 & Over Boys
• His senior year he won both the 50 and 100 yard freestyle at Nationals in North Dakota.​

Tony graduated from Trinity High School in 1994, and had over 24 college scholarships to choose from. He attended Texas A&M University on a full scholarship from 1994 -1996. During freshman year at Texas A&M, he got 3 Southwest Conference Relay Medals. His time at Texas A&M was cut short due to family issues back home in Bedford, so he resumed his education at TCCC from 1996-1998. When it was time to finish his Bachelors, he choose Arizona State University and completed his degree, Bachelors of Science in Business. He graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2000 and moved west to California. While he was at A.S.U., Larry Ridge passed away, greatly impacting all those he had coached.   

Tony made use of his business degree and enjoyed success in Internet Marketing in Hermosa Beach, CA. At the age of 28, he had a grand mal seizure. An MRI was done which revealed a tennis ball size tumor (Oligodendroglioma) on the left frontal lobe of his brain.  He attributes his survival to God and his wife, Heather who have walked beside him on this journey.  He and Heather have three wonderful children, Gabriella, Maximillian, and Angelica.  He considers himself blessed by his family and the life he has been given. 
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