Florida’s men’s and women’s swimming head coach Anthony Nesty was honored as the 2024 ASCA George Haines Coach of the Year recipient Thursday night at the Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Celebration during the ASCA World Clinic at the Rosen Centre Resort in Orlando, Florida.
This award is presented annually to the individual whose coaching effectiveness has contributed the most towards American swimming excellence on the World stage. Nesty was named one of five finalists in Aug. 21 of this year, joining, Bob Bowman, Todd DeSorbo, Dave Durden, Greg Meehan, who had numerous medalists at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Nesty served as the head coach for the men’s U.S. Olympic swim team at the recent Olympic Games, where he guided the men’s team to three golds, four silvers and three bronze medals. The one individual gold medal on the men’s side was Bobby Finke’s in the 1500m event, where the former Gator won gold in world-record time (14:30:67). He also earned a silver medal in the 800m free, earning his second Olympic- podium spot of his career.
Caeleb Dressel added three Olympic medals to his seven gold-medal count, taking home two gold medals in the men’s 4x100m free relay and mixed 4x100m medley relay. In addition, the nine-time gold medalist added one silver to his collection after the men’s 4x100m medley relay finished second. His nine gold medals ranks third overall in USA men’s swimming history.
Additionally, Kieran Smith was part of Team USA’s men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team that swam to a second-place finish and Emma Weyant tallied her second Olympic medal after earning a bronze medal in the 400m individual medley.
Additionally, two of the gold medals on the women’s side was thanks to Katie Ledecky, who cemented her title in Paris as the most decorated U.S. female Olympian after winning four total medals in Paris: gold in the women’s 1500m freestyle and 800m freestyle, silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 400m freestyle. Even more, her winning 1500m time of 15:30.02 set an Olympic record. With 14 total Olympic medals, Ledecky is the fifth-most decorated athlete in the history of the competition, and her nine gold medals makes her the most decorated American female.
The ASCA Coach of the Year has been awarded since 1961. Past recipients include many greats in the profession, including George Haines, for whom the award is named, Doc Counsilman, Eddie Reese, Bob Bowman, Gregg Troy, Jon Urbanchek and many others. The last three winners have been Dave Durden, Anthony Nesty and Gregg Troy.
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