Head Coach / Senior Groups
coachnick@teamvortex.org

I began swimming when I was 13 years old when my parents forced me to join the local summer club.  At that time, I was a soccer player and that was my passion, but I had a coach that took an interest in me and helped me develop and learn to love the sport of swimming.  This was the first time I experienced great coaching that made an impact on me.

After falling in love with the sport, I went to Regis Jesuit High School to swim and was varsity for all four years.  My junior and senior year I got my first taste at coaching. My friend and I coached and managed the Heather Ridge Country Club summer club swim team in Denver.  I had a great time, learned so much about coaching and had way too many Slurpees! During these 4 years, I had some great coaches at both Regis and my club team.

I accepted a position to swim at Bowling Green State University my freshman year of college.  This was hard for me. For the first time in swimming, my coach and I were not compatible. I learned a lot from him, he was technically a great coach, but we just didn’t click. Because of this, I decided to take the opportunity to join my family in Malta. During my time in Malta, I worked as an assistant coach for the Malta National Swim Team.

When my family and I came back to the US, I decided to attend Western State College. While in Gunnison, I coached for the summer club swim team and started the Gunnison High School Swim Teams for both boys and girls.  After graduating from college, I moved around a few times until I came to Fort Collins. Since I arrived in Fort Collins in 2008, I have been in the swim community working with summer clubs, running aquatics programs and coaching for Vortex. During the day, I am the Aquatics Manager at Raintree Athletic Club.

My many years of experience working with coaches has helped to create my theory of coaching and the way I approach swimming. Quality over quantity, clear communication, the desire and motivation to get better are all critically important to me. I enjoy teaching technique and helping swimmers improve their strokes.  I like to push swimmers both in and out of the water to achieve better times and help them realize how much they can accomplish.

My coaches impacted me, as a swimmer and as an individual. They were modeling character to me.  I try to remember that it is now my opportunity to impact these youth, as swimmers, and as people.

In my downtime, I like to spend time with my lovely wife.

Age Group Coach (Age Group / Storm / Cyclone)
coachjackson@teamvortex.org

I’ve been swimming pretty much my whole life, or since my parents and I found out I’m not the best at catching things that are thrown to me! I started out swimming for the Loveland Boltz when some neighbors asked if I would try the team with them and I ended up being the only one to stick it out. I swam for them throughout elementary school and then took a break from club swimming. While I was in middle school, I swam for the Westfield Waves and started to realize that I really liked swimming. I was at a meet and met the coach of Vortex and he told me that I should try year-round swimming with him starting my freshman year of high school. I swam for Vortex all throughout high school and became a team captain. During that same time frame, I swam for my high school, Rocky Mountain, became a team captain, and went to state 3 out of the 4 years. After high school, I went to Morningside College on a swim scholarship where I studied Elementary and Middle school education as well as swimming breaststroke, IM, and the distance freestyle events. I have also lifeguarded and taught swim lessons and have found that my love of teaching and swimming really go hand in hand. I started coaching with the summer league team, Westfield Waves, and am now their head coach. The coaches I had on all these teams really shaped who I am today, and I want to carry on that tradition of building strong, smart, and caring swimmers!