07/20/2026
Grace Community School Announces Brynn Steele as Varsity Swim Coach:
Grace Community School Athletic Director Eddie Francis announced Thursday that Brynn Steele has been named as the Varsity Swim Coach for their boys and girls teams.
Steele is no stranger to Grace Community. Her children both attend Grace and she has been an active volunteer at the school. She has a long and strong background in swimming. She swam for our very own Coach Janet Taylor for 10 years through ATAC and Metro Swim Clubs, she was a 4 year letter winner for Robert E. Lee High School where she specialized in the 500 yard freestyle and the 1650 Long Course events, she is a certified Water Safety Instructor through the Red Cross, and she teaches lessons.
Steele earned a Bachelor Degree in Women’s Ministry and a Masters in Christian Ministry from Liberty University. She recently served as the Nursery Director and Children’s Interim Minister at Friendly Baptist Church.
Steele expressed gratitude for the opportunity to lead the Grace Swim Program.
Being able to disciple young people through swimming is something truly from the Lord. I am thrilled that I get to partner with Grace in leading students both in and out of the water. Culture and community are so vital to the Christian life and I look forward to creating a space at Grace where both young men and women have a place where they belong.
Steele takes over for Janet Taylor, who started and led the Grace Swim Program for more than 30 years. She has made the Cougars one of the premier programs in the state winning 7 TAPPS State Championships. Coach Taylor led and loved her swimmers well and positively impacted generations of Cougars. She is retiring to spend more time with her children and grandchildren.
Steele lives in Tyler with her husband, Robert. They have a son, Judah, and a daughter, Adley,
In addition to bringing in Coach Steele to lead the program, Grace is happy to announce the hiring of Mark Eberhard as their varsity and middle school assistant coach and Raymond Martinez as the Middle School Head Coach.
Eberhard is a graduate of Henderson State University. He received a degree in Business Administration. He earned All Conference honors, qualified for the NCAA DII National Championships, and set the school record in the 200 breaststroke while swimming at Henderson State. He began his college career at LSU before transferring to Henderson State his sophomore year. Eberhard is currently coaching swim teams at East Texas Aquatics and works at Coastal Chemical.
Martinez has been actively involved in the GCS Swim Program as a parent and now will be leading our Middle School Swim Program. He competed as a swimmer for FW Paschal High School and swam for the Fort Worth Area Swim Team during his high school years. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor, co-owner of Crosspoint Counseling, and taught Spanish at Grace University from 2023-2026. He and his wife, Beth, have been married for 16 years and have 4 children: Lydia, Anna, Micah, and Nathan.
“We are excited to have Coach Steele, Coach Eberhard, and Coach Martinez leading our swim program. They all fit the mission of Grace Athletics and will do an excellent job of using their swim platform to influence the world for Christ. Each has a passion for the Lord, their swimmers, and their sport that will motivate and inspire our swimmers to accomplish great things. We look forward to watching them build on the incredibly solid foundation that Coach Taylor has laid over the past 30 years. We are excited about the future of the Grace Swim Program and are confident our swimmers will continue to be difference makers in the pool and in our community.” Francis said.
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