USA Swimming Men's Head Coach Anthony Nesty Q&A: “My philosophy is about mind, body, and soul”

When Anthony Nesty won 100 butterfly Olympic gold at Seoul 1988, he had no idea how positive an impact it would have back home.

The swimming prodigy had become Suriname’s first (and to this day, only) Olympic gold medallist, and a nation that was struggling politically and economically came together to celebrate his achievement.

He victory was honoured again years later as the South American nation’s flag bearer at the Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony.

After winning a bronze medal at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics, Nesty hung up his goggles and entered the world of coaching.

Applying the same dedication and hard work that saw him win two Olympic medals, he was eventually offered the prestigious head coach position at the University of Florida in 2018.

It meant that he would be coaching the world’s top male swimmer in Caeleb Dressel, fresh from winning three individual gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Word of Nesty’s intense but empathetic coaching philosophies quickly spread, and it wasn’t long before arguably the greatest female swimmer of all time in Katie Ledecky decided to join Nesty’s training team in the Sunshine State.

In February 2022, he was named Head Coach of the USA Men's Swim Team for the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest.

In doing so, Nesty will become the first black head coach to lead Team USA into a World Championships.

Olympics.com caught up with the trailblazing athlete and coach, who explained the societal impact of his gold medal, why his coaching philosophies have attracted the world’s top athletes, and revealed the mantra that helped him break down barriers in the sport.

Olympics.com: Winning Suriname’s first Olympic gold medal turned you into an overnight sensation back home. Talk to us about your reception, and how you were able to unite a nation…

Anthony Nesty: At that time Suriname had a lot of issues, political issues, inflation, the usual stuff for a Third World country. And I think it was probably the first time that people had something to cling on to that was very positive, enlightening. Me winning, I think it made people forget about their issues. For me, that was so gratifying to know that 53 seconds could do that. And I think at that moment in time, people were very proud of the country, were obviously proud of me, and I was proud of them.

When I got to Suriname, I was just kind of blown away. I was supposed to land and go to the soccer stadium. As we flew over it and saw how packed it was I was like, “Wow.” From the airport it takes about 30, 45 minutes to get to the capital Paramaribo, but people just lined up the whole way on the street, which was a special moment for me because a week previously I was thinking about going back to school and going to practice, but seeing that made me feel that I made a difference at that time for the entire country.

O: You experienced similar success as a coach at the University of Florida. I know empathy and individuality are important to you, but how would you describe your coaching philosophy?

AN: The most important thing is that you have to have good people. Coaches, athletes, staff - we have core values and my thing is that if you adhere to those core values, the athletes are going to care about themselves and care about the other athletes around them, and therefore it's going to be a pretty successful and vested environment to be in. I tell my team all the time: Good things happen to good people, and if you have good people in your programme, it may not happen this year and may not happen next year, but at some point they're going to see success, whether it's in the pool, or whether it's in their life skills after, or their jobs.

I tell our athletes, “It's mind, body and soul.” Those three things all need to be heading in the right direction because you can't get where you need to be without them being a cohesive unit. We need to keep stress at a level where it's manageable because at this level, with everything going on social media and the expectation on these athletes to make everyone happy… the kids read it, and it hinders your ability to perform at a really high level. Consistency and moderation.

Finally, I believe that you can always learn, which I do every day. Some coaches think they have all the answers, but I don't. I like to hear other people's opinions on how they do things. How can Anthony Nesta improve and be a better coach, be a better husband, be a better father, be a better friend?

O: After the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021, Caeleb Dressel joined your training team at UFL. What were your impressions of the seven-time gold medallist?

AN: I'm a big F1 guy**,** I take a lot of stuff from that sport because those cars are so sensitive and it’s about the collective team effort. It’s about going fast while being as reliable as possible, just like our athletes. Caeleb’s the fastest, so he’s like the Ferrari as right now they are the fastest. But if you look at his career, the longevity of it being at the highest levels, he’s probably a Mercedes, right? Those guys have been so successful for so long. Even when you think that the Mercs are struggling now, Caeleb’s had times where he's struggled. But at the end of the day, you got to trust your engineers, you got to trust the people in the factory. The support staff here, the coaching staff here, are always going to get him back on the right track.

I think he's probably one of the most athletic athletes I've seen. He's a freak and we see it in the weight room all the time, because the kid is just so athletic. He's also a thinker, and he thinks a lot, everything you do he likes to talk about it. But that's what you get when you have really good athletes. He's pretty funny. And the thing about Caeleb, he has a huge heart. He will go above and beyond to help any person. If my car breaks down 30 miles from here, probably nine out of 10 times he'll probably drive over to help me out. That's the type of kid he is.

After the Olympics he needed a break. I think that kind of lit a fire in his belly again once he got back into routine, having other guys around him, having other people around. So I think that was probably the biggest reason why his head is where it needs to be.

O: Arguably the world’s greatest ever female swimmer Katie Ledecky joined him in your training group soon after. What was the reason behind her switch, and what kind of impression has she made on you?

AN: When I got the email from her saying she wants to talk about thinking of coming to train here, she then visited and said, "I have the fire in my belly." So that just told me that she wants to continue to do this, continue to do it at a high level, obviously in a different environment. And I think that is her motivation, because she also didn't like losing in Tokyo. You know, those athletes at that level, it’s easy to motivate them if they lose because they'll get back on the horse and do what they can to not have that happen again.

She's an awesome person. She has a huge heart, cares about people. Just to see her in practice posting times that are, “Wow!” and beating our guys. So that's probably the most impressive thing. She makes us better and we make her better_._

O: How do you improve a seven-time gold medallist?

AN: I think technique-wise, she was not where she needed to be for years. The biggest thing for her is being comfortable, confident with her stroke, and that's where we are because I've only worked with her since October. That's a work in progress. But obviously she's twenty-five. Rio (2016 Olympics) was probably her best meet ever. Can she get to that level again? Well, we're certainly going to try.

She gives it 100 percent all the time. So we have to be careful that she doesn't push so hard that her engine breaks. It's a good thing that she's really committed, works hard, but at some point she needs to realise, yes she is a machine, but needs to realise that a machine can break. That's probably the hardest part for me as a coach, because she says very little. She keeps everything inside, you know, but we're getting better at it. So she's getting better at voicing her opinion, knowing where she's at.

O: In 2021 you were appointed the US Men’s head coach for the 2022 FINA World Championships - It’s an amazing achievement to become the first-ever black head coach to lead Team USA in a worlds. How did you feel when you were offered the position, and what kind of difference do you think you can bring?

AN: I’m the first ever, so that's a big deal. Looking back to my career, I seem to be doing the first of everything. I'm very thankful that I'm able to be the first black coach for the US. And it just shows you that no matter where you're from or who you are, if you do things the right way, we call it the Gator Way, it's like I said before: good things happen to good people. If you're consistent in what you do, if you're honest, respectful, you work hard, you're disciplined, if you're honest and respectful, I think people are more inclined to help you. Some teams, some coaches tend to overlook that aspect of it.

I tell our team all the time, if you say thank you, please, people are going to go out of their way to help you.

O: Such an exciting position, where you have man of the sport's top athletes at your disposal, also comes with a lot of expectation. How are you finding that?

AN: That's why I have no hair on my head! First of all, you have to trust yourself in that particular moment. Working with talented athletes, it's always added pressure for sure. Being the USA, everybody's watching. We were pretty successful at the Tokyo Olympics where we had the most medals, and obviously World Championships is equally as important and that the stakes are high. But I'm pretty confident of the staff that we're going to have and the athletes that they're able to compete. Our goal is always to win the most medals.