Coach Keith Nelson
My swimming career started when I was 5 or 6 growing up with my grandmother at a lake in Minnesota. One day I was at the end of the dock looking at the fish when Grandma said, “it’s time to learn to swim” and kicked me into the water. I must have floundered a bit when she told me to stand up. Thankfully there was only about 3 feet of water.
I started competitive swimming in high school and competed for 3 years on the varsity swim team. I earned state championship honors each year. After high school I wanted to push myself at the national level. I started two-a-day practices and worked 7 days a week competing in national meets around the Midwest. In 1975 I qualified for the United States Olympic Development Program for the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Though I did not qualify for the Olympic swim team, I gained a great deal of competitive swimming knowledge at a national level.
I coached swimmers of multiple age groups from 1974 to 1977 using the old AAU swimming programs. I left swimming for many years until I moved full time to Arizona in 2013. I decided to get back in shape and started competing with the U. S. Masters Swimming program. I became President and Head Coach for the Sun City Festival Swimmers Club. I competed and coached for 3 years. I earned my certification with U.S. Masters Swimming and earned my first national qualification with the 2016 Senior Olympic meet for Arizona which led to a trip to nationals in Texas. I moved to Victory in 2017 and helped to bring swimming to Victory as a workout group. I coach the 4 strokes, (Front Crawl, Breaststroke, Backstroke, and Butterfly) to good health and fitness.
Greg Wagstaff
My life in the water began when I was just 2 years old. After all, what do you do with a high-energy, rambunctious toddler? You teach him to jump off a diving board and swim until he’s ready for a nap! I thank my parents for giving me an early introduction to swimming.
At age 9, I joined the Las Juntas Swim Club in Walnut Creek, CA where I took swim lessons and competed in club swim meets. Those formative years sparked my interest in swimming and water sports.
As an adult, I joined a U.S. Masters Swimming group in San Jose, CA which provided extensive training and coaching. I swam with this group, 5 days a week, for almost 14 years. Concurrently, I played on a water polo team for 4 years in a league run by Ohlone College in Fremont, CA. My team and I competed in the annual California State Police Games for 3 years, winning a third place finish in 1992.
My passion for water sports led me to the coastal beaches of Carmel and Monterey, CA, where I taught scuba diving lessons as a NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors) certified dive instructor. In 1985, I started as a volunteer diver at the Monterey Bay Aquarium doing the underwater fish feeding shows in the Kelp Forest exhibit and continued bi-weekly for 14 years.
When we moved to Victory, I wanted to restart my swimming but I never liked swimming alone. I found group swimming to be more motivating and enjoyable. With encouragement from other Victory residents and our former fitness manager, Jeannette Dale, the swim club was started. At the introductory meeting I met Keith and the rest is history.