Acclaimed Olympic and collegiate coach Anthony Nesty (University of Florida) chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about being named the U.S. Men’s Head Coach for the 2022 FINA World Championships that will be held in Budapest.
2022 FINA World Championships
Joining Nesty will be Todd DeSorbo as the U.S. Women’s Head Coach for the upcoming World Championships. The competition will take place from June 18 to July 3, 2022, in Budapest, Hungary. “That feels good,” he said. “It is a great honor, first and foremost. Representing the U.S. as an Assistant Coach is a great honor but getting to nod as Head Coach is just icing on the cake.”
“Obviously, it’s a challenge since it’s a world championship meet and you are competing against the world’s best. We have our work cut out for us but the U.S. has great athletes and great coaches to get the athletes where they need to be at the highest level in the sport,” he added.
Both Nesty and DeSorbo served as Assistant Coaches with the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team at the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, helping the U.S. to win 11 gold, 10 silver, and nine bronze medals, thus totaling 30 Olympic swimming medals.
Nesty’s efforts in Tokyo helped lead his University of Florida swimmers, Bobby Finke and Kieran Smith, to three medals, including two gold. His current training group at the University of Florida consists of five athletes on the U.S. National Team and a No. 5 ranking among NCAA Division I men’s programs.
While the upcoming World Championships will mark his first time as Head Coach of a U.S. team at an international competition, he previously served as Head Coach for Suriname at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Head Coach at the University of Florida
At the University of Florida in Gainesville, Nesty serves as the Head Coach of the Florida Gators Men’s and Women’s swimming teams. “It has been a busy year for me for sure because now I coach as additional gender (the women’s team) but I have a really good staff,” he said.
“Katie Ledecky has been a great addition to our program,” he said. “We have some really fantastic athletes, but first and foremost, they are really good people. It’s a good situation for all of us. Our No. 1 goal, of course, is taking care of our athletes.”
On being a coach in the digital age, he said, “I’m not computer savvy, I do things old school. I still write my practices and I still log them in a binder. I’m old school in regard to seeing the practice on paper.”
Awards and accolades
Nesty was inducted into the coveted International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) as an “Honor Swimmer” in 1998, and the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a “Gator Great” in 2002. “That just proves that my hard work has paid off,” he said. “Being in Gainesville and a Gator is special not only for me but for many people, especially if you graduated from the University of Florida.”
“For me, it is to uphold the standards of the University of Florida as an athlete and coach. You are an ambassador for the city too so it’s a great honor, and hopefully, I can give back by doing my best in getting these athletes to where they need to be so Gator Nation can be proud of them and the program as well,” he elaborated.
At the Olympic level, Nesty won the gold medal in the men’s 100 meter butterfly race at the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988, and he went on to win the bronze at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. “As an athlete, the Olympics are the Mount Everest top,” he said. “It doesn’t get any bigger than that.”
“Getting to the Olympics is big but getting in the finals is bigger, and getting on the podium is even bigger,” he said. “I think the stress at the Olympic Trials is even higher than the stress at the actual Olympics. The coaches and the staff are doing a great job throughout the country so it’s awesome.”
On the title of the current chapter of his life, he remarked, “Improvement.” “Helping the athletes improve this month, next month, and next year.”
Success
Nesty defined the word success as “consistency of getting the athletes where they need to be.” “Having a healthy team physically, mentally and with good character (people that care for each other), and people who love being Gators. When you have a team like that then that’s a success to me,” he said.
Rapid Fire Questions
Coach Nesty also took some time to answer a few “Rapid Fire” questions.
Waffles or pancakes? Pancakes
Flying or driving? Flying
City living or country living? Country living
Summer or winter? Winter (in Florida)
Library or museum? Museum
Bath or shower? Shower
Pepsi or Coke? Coke
Texting or calling? Calling
Half-full or half-empty? Half-full
Curly fries or normal fries? Normal fries
Skydiving or scuba diving? Scubadiving
Indoor pool or outdoor pool? Outdoor pool
Tea or coffee? Coffee
Rain or snow? Rain, I love the rain
Singing or dancing? Singing, though I’m not good at either
Burgers or tacos? Burgers
Long course or short course? Long course
Money or fame? Money
To learn more about Anthony Nesty, follow him on Instagram.
