Thursday, February 24, 2022
Black History Month Trailblazers: Anthony Nesty
Anthony Nesty has worn many hats throughout his journey in the sport: Olympian, Pan American Games medalist, college coach and Olympic coach to name a few. Currently, he leads the University of Florida program, where he works with a pro and college group that currently features U.S. National Team members Caeleb Dressel, Katie Ledecky, Bobby Finke, Trey Freeman and more.
Nesty was born in Suriname, a country of just less than 600,000 individuals and is situated on the northern coast of South America. He would go on to represent Suriname at the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics, where he won gold (1988) and bronze (1992) in the 100-meter butterfly.
Following the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Nesty attended the University of Florida where he trained under Randy Reese and Skip Foster. In 1998, he joined the Gator coaching staff as an assistant before taking over head coaching duties in 2018. With the addition of the 2022 Southeastern Conference Championships title that the Gators captured last week, Nesty has helped the program to conference titles in each of his four seasons at the helm and has extended Florida’s SEC title streak to 10 years in a row.
With an ongoing list of successful programs and athletes spanning numerous years, Nesty was chosen to be an assistant coach for last year’s U.S. Olympic Swim Team, making him just the second Black coach to be named to a U.S. Olympic Swim Team staff. In Tokyo, Nesty helped Bobby Finke to his memorable gold medals in the 800- and 1500-meter freestyles and led Kieran Smith to his first Olympic medal in the 400m freestyle.
Recently, Nesty was selected to be head coach of the U.S. men’s team at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The opportunity will mark the first time Nesty will hold a head coaching role for a U.S. team in international competition.
Nesty was born in Suriname, a country of just less than 600,000 individuals and is situated on the northern coast of South America. He would go on to represent Suriname at the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics, where he won gold (1988) and bronze (1992) in the 100-meter butterfly.
Following the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Nesty attended the University of Florida where he trained under Randy Reese and Skip Foster. In 1998, he joined the Gator coaching staff as an assistant before taking over head coaching duties in 2018. With the addition of the 2022 Southeastern Conference Championships title that the Gators captured last week, Nesty has helped the program to conference titles in each of his four seasons at the helm and has extended Florida’s SEC title streak to 10 years in a row.
With an ongoing list of successful programs and athletes spanning numerous years, Nesty was chosen to be an assistant coach for last year’s U.S. Olympic Swim Team, making him just the second Black coach to be named to a U.S. Olympic Swim Team staff. In Tokyo, Nesty helped Bobby Finke to his memorable gold medals in the 800- and 1500-meter freestyles and led Kieran Smith to his first Olympic medal in the 400m freestyle.
Recently, Nesty was selected to be head coach of the U.S. men’s team at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The opportunity will mark the first time Nesty will hold a head coaching role for a U.S. team in international competition.