Adam Nelsen

Benton aquatics director to speak at health conference

Adam Nelsen, aquatics director for the Benton Parks and Recreation Department, was recently selected to speak at the 2019 World Aquatics Health Conference in Williamsburg, Va.
Adam Nelsen, aquatics director for the Benton Parks and Recreation Department, was recently selected to speak at the 2019 World Aquatics Health Conference in Williamsburg, Va.

For Adam Nelsen, the sport of swimming is something that has always come naturally to him.

“As far as swimming goes, I don’t think I had to learn how to swim; it was just a basic memory,” Nelsen said. “I’m sure I did learn at some point, but I was almost swimming before I went to school — it was just second nature to me.”

He started swimming competitively in 1979, when he was 4 years old, under coach Paul Blair for the Little Rock Racquet Club Dolphins. Nelsen said he swam on every level, all the way through college.

“I really enjoyed the competition,” he said. “I liked getting up and racing, which meant I also enjoyed the training, the camaraderie and all the friendships that were involved.

“I set several state records in various age groups, but eventually, I walked away from the sport for a while and had another life.”

He said that when he got married and had children, he and his wife started looking for something to do, and he suggested swimming, and for Nelsen, that “ignited an old flame.”

“Once my kids started swimming, I couldn’t believe I had taken such a long break from everything,” Nelsen said. “I think [the break] gave me more energy, and I was so excited to be a part of it again. I was not burned out or tired. I had a lot of energy to bring.”

Nelsen, who has been the aquatics director for Benton Parks and Recreation since 2016, is scheduled to speak at the 2019 World Aquatics Health Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia, which begins Thursday.

“It is a huge event where aquatics professionals from all over the world come together,” Nelsen said. “It is a chance for people in our field to learn, grow and develop new ideas. The purpose of the conference is to make pools healthier, safer and cleaner so that all people can enjoy the pool. … There is always a lot of new information, and all these people share this information and do a better job.”

Nelsen said the conference will feature other aquatic directors like him, as well as people from the YMCA and the health department. This will be his third year to attend the event, which averages about 1,200 people, Nelsen said.

“I love speaking about the sport of swimming, and I relish the opportunity to talk about what I know, to see if it can help other people,” he said. “I might be nervous before my speech, but once I get in the middle of it, I probably won’t have enough time to say all I want to say.”

When Nelsen first began working at the department, he started a summer swim league, and it was different from other swim leagues, he said.

“Most swim leagues include multiple little communities, and the swimmers travel to different cities to compete,” he said. “The difference for us is, we do it all in one place — we aren’t traveling all over the place. We practice together; then we draft kids onto different teams and compete against each other at the facility.

“We teach swimming and make it developmental and fun. It is easy for parents and swimmers to get involved.”

Nelsen said this is what his speech will cover at the conference.

“I have a lot of knowledge around the sport of swimming, and our program helps and develops the coaches who work with our program, which in turn helps our facility,” he said. “For kids, the Sharks Program is really great because there is not a lot of pressure — it is all fun.

“We don’t implement a lot of rules, but instead, we teach them technical progressions and make it fun. The environment is conducive to that. There is a lot of cheering, crowd support and parental support.”

Nelsen said that when he joined the parks department, he initially wanted to join another swim league that was already established, but for whatever reason, Nelsen said, that league “didn’t want us to be involved.”

“That made me think larger of my own vision and of what we could do,” he said. “If I could start my own league and everyone signed up through this facility, it could be a real true way to do development.

“All the jealously or the political nature that is sometimes developed through youth sports wouldn’t be there.”

The Benton Sharks Program was selected as the 2018 Arkansas Recreation and Parks Association, or ARPA, Team of the Year, and Nelsen was selected as the professional of the year by ARPA the same year.

“Our first year, we had about 62 kids enrolled, and in 2018, we had 130 kids, and this year, we had 160 kids,” he said. “We are able to hit all kinds of groups this way. We have a wide range of ages and abilities, and we are an inclusive program.”

Stephanie Jones, director for Benton Parks and Recreation, said having Nelsen speaking at a national conference says volumes that “we have a staff that is educated, and then to be able to be given this opportunity is great for Adam.”

“He’s had tremendous impact, not only from an insider standpoint and how we run the business,” she said. “He has been able to teach this community necessary skills, teaching kids how to swim, then turning that into a recreational swim program. I think those things are very beneficial.”

Nelsen is originally from Little Rock, having graduated from Hall High School in Little Rock in 1993. He attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he swam competitively, but eventually graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a degree in health sciences, with an emphasis in community-health promotion.

“Adam is very knowledgeable about swimming and knowledgeable about maintaining this facility, about programs, about the health-and-wellness aspect,” Jones said. “To have a staff who is educated and brings something else to the table, they are kind of a step above everyone else.

“He’s the picture of what you want, as far as an aquatics director goes.”

Before coming to the parks department, Nelsen worked for the state health department for 10 years as a health educator. He was inducted into the Arkansas Swimming Hall of Fame in 2014.

“I sort of realized in the process that there were coaches, officials, parents and family — all of these people who played a role in my old life — that allowed me to get these honors,” Nelsen said. “If I [could be inducted], I owed it to the sport to get back involved, and that’s when I started coaching swimming again.

“Becoming an aquatics director was like a giant life puzzle that I had put together. I began to fully immerse myself in aquatics, and now I coach a ton of kids.”

Nelsen said he coaches the Benton Sharks, the Central Arkansas Racers, the Catholic High School team and the Lakewood Waves Summer League. He said he is pretty much always working.

“As much as I want everyone to be a fast swimmer, I think the greatest gift that I have as a coach is the influence I have and the help I can give for our swimmers to recognize their goals, in and out of pools,” Nelsen said. “I feel like as coaches, it is our job to interact and help kids be the best versions of themselves.

“We just want good kids to come through the program, and if they happen to be fast swimmers, that’s just extra.”

Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.

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