You know you’re dedicated to your job when you look right past Cindy Crawford to say “hey” to Olympic swimming medalist Michael Phelps — which is precisely what coach Eric Nelson ’93 did at this summer’s U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Long Beach, Calif.
Nelson coached Wichita Swim Club member Caroline Bruce (shown with Nelson in the photo here) all the way to the Athens Olympics.
“As a coach, watching your athlete swimming at the Olympics — they’re behind the blocks, you see their name on the marquee, wearing the red, white and blue; you just have to take a moment,” says Nelson. “You could hold the Olympics in Haysville (Kan.) and they would be great, but to have them in Athens — you felt like you had really arrived at a special time and place in history.”
While Nelson had always dreamed of going to the Olympics (“you won’t get there unless you dream it,” he notes), he coaches because he loves the kids and believes swimming competitively helps them build such characteristics as consistency, diligence and a positive mental attitude.
Oh yeah, and Cindy? She was meeting Phelps, too. It was when another swimmer said, “I can’t believe I just met Cindy Crawford!” that Nelson realized just whom he’d missed.
