Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Jackson and Dan Vawter.
AquaChamps was founded upon the Jack Nelson tradition of teaching with care, which began in Broward County over 60 years ago. We have taught generations of children and adults over the last six decades.
In December 2007, the Jack Nelson Swim School left their historic home (International Swimming Hall of Fame/Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex) after 33 years in favor of a better environment to raise the next generations of champions in and out of the water.
The Island City of Wilton Manors surrounded by water seemed like the perfect fit with its close proximity and inclusive attitude. With our move to Wilton Manors, we ushered in the next generation with a new name, AquaChamps Swim School, and opened our doors to our new home in Wilton Manors.
Coach and Sherrill Nelson have passed the leadership reins of the program onto their daughter, Mary Jackson, and Dan Vawter. Together Mary, Dan and the entire AquaChamps staff are continuing the tradition of swimming excellence. “Sherrill and I are blessed to have Mary and Dan to continue what we started. You cannot find two people with more dedication, integrity and love for what they do,” exalted Coach Nelson back in 2009. It is an honor for AquaChamps to carry on their legacy!
AquaChamps is dedicated to providing opportunities in the water for people of all ages and abilities. We understand that learning is a process that requires continuing education and practice in order to be a safer and smarter swimmer. Our swimming program offers several levels of instruction in order to continue developing skills and conditioning safer responses to water.
COACH JACK NELSON – Head Olympic, World Games, and Pan Am Games coach, former Collegiate All-American, three-time World Record Holder, and Olympian. Jack is the only person in the history of USA Swimming who has been both an Olympic swimmer and a Head Olympic Coach. Coach Nelson has the distinct honor to have been inducted into six Halls of Fame – Greater Fort Lauderdale Sports Hall of Fame, University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame, Saint Thomas Aquinas Hall of Fame, North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, State of Florida Sports Hall of Fame, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Additional honors include Man of the Year for the City of Fort Lauderdale and the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce.
Coach Nelson is the most successful high school coach in the history of swimming with 30 State Team Championships and over 460 All-American swimmers. Coach passed away in November 2014 after fighting hard against Alzheimer’s Disease.
SHERRILL NELSON – Sherrill served as Head Manager for multiple National teams representing USA Swimming both nationally and internationally. She was the organizational force behind Coach Nelson’s on deck success during their over 40 years representing the City of Fort Lauderdale at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex. In 1999, the International Swimming Hall of Fame named Sherrill as the Grand Dame for her outstanding contributions to USA Swimming. In 2015, Sherrill was presented with a proclamation from the City of Fort Lauderdale for her lifetime of contribution to the city. Now retired, Sherrill still loves to pop into AquaChamps to cheer on a little swimmer, give a parent a snippet of swimming advice and encourage us to keep doing what we do!
MARY JACKSON – Director & Co-Owner of AquaChamps Swim School. Mary’s swimming experience started at the age of five months with her parents, Jack and Sherrill Nelson, realizing the importance of starting young. The sport of swimming was an integral part of growing up in the Nelson household where swimmers from all over the world were considered part of the family. Once learning how to swim, Mary was a member of the Pine Crest Swim Team where Coach Nelson taught in the late sixties and seventies. When Coach Nelson was contracted by the City of Fort Lauderdale in 1974, Mary at the age of 5 began swimming at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex. Her swimming career continued while growing up taking her to numerous Junior Olympics and State Championships. She was a member of the Fort Lauderdale High School Swim Team; as well as the Fort Lauderdale Swim Team. In 1988, Mary continued her swimming at the University of Miami.
Mary first began teaching children how to swim at the age of 16. Throughout high school and college, Mary excelled at being one of the Fort Lauderdale Swim Team’s most successful instructors combining both her knowledge of swimming and her gentle encouraging approach with children. Her college career eventually led her to San Francisco, California, where she graduated from San Francisco State University with both a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Arts and an Elementary Education degree.
Eventually in 1998, Mary’s path led her back to her hometown of Fort Lauderdale. She took on the position of Office Manager for FLST which included managing office staff, accounting, scheduling and customer service while at the same time getting back in the water to teach. With the development of the Jack Nelson Swim School in 2003, Mary has helped to improve, develop and organize the comprehensive learn to swim programs that JNSS offered.
In 2004, upon Coach & Sherrill’s retirement from competitive swimming, Mary began to expand the aquatic programming offered at the swim school. At that time, she brought on Dan Vawter to serve as Head Coach.
Together Mary and Dan dedicated themselves to developing safer, smarter & happier swimmers no matter what the age. With new programs like water therapy, disability swimming classes, “Access to Success” Scholarship and water aerobics; the Jack Nelson Swim School quickly became the premier learn-to-swim and aquatic development program in South Florida.
Building upon the foundation started by Jack & Sherrill Nelson, in December 2007, Mary led the way for the next generation of swimming excellence with the opening of AquaChamps Swim School in Wilton Manors.
Mary has been educating others in the Swim School Industry through several speaking engagements with the United States Swim School Association and the National Drowning Prevention Alliance.
Continuing the swimming tradition begun by Coach & Sherrill Nelson, AquaChamps Swim School is a safe, fun and friendly environment for children and adults to enjoy a variety of activities. AquaChamps is the place for “Building Champions In & Out of the water!”
Mary and her husband, Tom, are the proud parents of two beautiful girls, Rose & Ella, and their dog Maggie, who all love to swim.
DAN VAWTER – Head Coach & Co-Owner of AquaChamps Swim School. Dan’s competitive swimming career began early at the age of five with the Carmel Swim Club, in Indiana. Dan became a part of CSC’s National Development Team at the age of eleven, where he trained and developed his technique under Tom Avischous (USA Swimming) and the legendary Doc Councilman (Head Coach Indiana University). With Carmel, Dan was a part of an eight year run as State Champions in both short and long course seasons and was a part of the Junior and Senior National Teams.
Dan swam high school for Noblesville High School in Indiana; where he was Sectional Champion and State Finalist his Sophomore, Junior and Senior years in the 100 Fly, 100 Back and 200 IM and was also held the school records in the 100 Fly, 100 Back, 200 IM and 400 Free Relay. As a freshman at Transylvania University; Lexington, KY, he was a NAIA finalist in the 200 IM, 100 Fly and 100 Back. He was also honored as the Scholastic Swimmer of the year and given the Team Spirit Award.
Dan has been coaching and developing learn to swim programs and advanced stroke training since 1991. He started teaching in his own backyard pool, and then began instructing at the Stoney Creek Swim Center; where he developed and ran the advanced swimming program, developing competitive swimmers for area teams. Dan also organized and ran the Hamilton Southeastern Swim Team’s Developmental Program, as well as coached the 10 & Under Team.
Dan moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1997 and began working with Jack Nelson Swim School part time, while also working for the Marine Industries Association of South Florida for 6 years. Dan served as the Membership Development Coordinator and Special Event Planner. He was responsible for working with over 800 marine business members to keep them informed on marine industry issues and events. Dan was also responsible for the growth & success of the Plywood Regatta which raises money for Broward Schools’ Marine Magnet Programs and introduces children to boat building and careers available in the marine industry. In 2003 over 150 students participated in this two day boat building event.
In 2004 he joined the Jack Nelson Swim School full-time as the Head Coach & Marketing Director of the Jack Nelson’s Swim School. Dan was instrumental in the development and execution of the first ever Fort Lauderdale Children’s Safety Day in 2006. JNSS grew with new programs like water therapy, disability swimming classes, “Access to Success” Scholarship and water aerobics; the Jack Nelson Swim School quickly became the premier learn-to-swim and aquatic development program in South Florida.
In December 2007, Dan became part owner in the swim school. With Mary & Sherrill, they opened AquaChamps Swim School in Wilton Manors. Under Dan’s leadership AquaChamps has developed an AquaTism program, specifically designed for children swimming with Autism. The AquaChamps program has received national attention, and Dan has been a speaker for the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, Florida Pool and Spa Association and the United States Swim School Association.
Dan and his husband, Vincent, are the proud parent of three great dogs; Daisy, Buster & Rosie…Rosie is the swimmer of the group!
ig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not smooth! As with any small business, there are always a few bumps and obstacles to overcome.
When we left our original location at the International Swimming Hall of Fame, which we had called home for our 40 years, we were apprehensive about all the unknowns, but we knew that staying was not the right option for the future of AquaChamps Swim School. When we moved to a small city, like Wilton Manors, there were positives and negatives. A small city provided greater access to City Officials and made the permitting process quick. However, working with a small city has required us to educate many City Officials about our business. There has been a struggle for them to understand the unique business and service that we provide; as we are not a restaurant/bar or yoga studio.
We have currently outgrown our current location and are working with the City of Wilton Manors to make improvements and expand our current location. Our original move to the City and our expansion has brought out a vocal minority of neighbors that like to hate on businesses and want to hold on to the past as much as possible. When we first moved to Wilton Manors, we were sued by our neighbors as they worked to have our business shut down because of the noise our swimmers and coaches make. Luckily every court in Florida saw that our business was legitimate and allowed to exist in our zoning district; of course, it cost us THOUSANDS of dollars to defend!
Please tell us about AquaChamps Swim School.
AquaChamps Swim School is one of the finest swimming programs in the world.
We offer comprehensive aquatic instruction, on a year round basis, to people of all ages & abilities; from infant swimming through competitive swimming development. We believe in creating swimmers who not only swim with outstanding technique, but also love to swim!
The thing we are most proud of stems from our motto “Access to Success is Thru the Mind!” It comes when we see our swimmers and their families turn their initial fear of water or swimming lessons into something they find joy in! One of the greatest things is to have parents come back to our program that we taught to swim and now we are swimming with their babies. It shows how much history we have in South Florida.
Something that Coach Nelson taught us many years ago is the importance of personal attention. We focus on providing the very best personalized instruction, which we believe sets us apart! We hire employees not on their swimming experience, but on their ability to understand children and parents. Our program believes it is critical to educate the parents not only on swimming but behaviors and growth both in and out of the water! Each of our eight group class levels is based on a child’s physical, emotional and developmental needs.
Mission: To protect families from becoming a statistic by redefining safer swimming through professional instruction, education and awareness.
Drowning Statistics: (Florida Department of Health)
• Drowning is the leading cause of death among children ages 1-4 in Florida.
• Florida’s drowning death rate among children ages 1-4 is the highest in the nation.
• Enough children drown each year in Florida to fill three to four preschool classrooms!
Our Philosophy:
No two children are alike. Each child progresses at a different pace, has a different personality, and is at a different stage of development both mentally & physically.
Nonetheless, what they all have in common is that they can learn to swim. We teach children in a loving & encouraging approach while instilling an “I Can Do It!” attitude.
At the same time, we are educating their families & care givers so that we are all working together to create a safer, smarter swimmer.
Our Programs:
We offer private and small group instruction to infants through adults. We start with children as young as three months; as we believe in learning to swim before you walk.
AquaChamps has led the way in the swimming instruction community by being one of the first swim schools to develop a program for swimmers with Autism, our AquaTism program. With an alarming increase in the number of children diagnosed with Autism, we saw the need to provide a program that specifically addresses the need for affordable swim lessons for these children who are so often drawn to the water. Upon launching of this program back, our school and the City of Wilton Manors was featured on CBS4 News with Dr. Sean Kenniff.
We are also proud to extend our reach within the Wilton Manors community by offering a Community Outreach Program. We have previously worked the Wilton Manors Elementary School and the City of Wilton Manors Community Affairs Advisory Board to teach over 500 children to swim. We also support local businesses and schools with annual donations of swimming lessons; some of which include, Gay Parenting of South Florida, Virginia Shuman Young Elementary School, Bayview Elementary and Floranada Elementary School.
With our 2017 Improvement Project, we plan to extend our Community Outreach and programming with other local businesses by partnering with Kids in Distress and Marrinson Senior Care Residences.
Dan and Mary regularly speak at local preschools and children learning centers to educate families and caregivers about the importance of water safety and sharing the Safer 3 drowning prevention message.
They also speak at various swim school conferences around the country. AquaChamps and its owners, Dan and Mary, serve as mentors to many visiting swim school owners from around the globe who visit our school and City of Wilton Manors during the developmental stages of their own programs.
Affiliations:
• United States Swim School Association
• National Drowning Prevention Alliance
• Swim for Life Foundation (Safer 3)
• Broward Safe Kids
• USA Swimming
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Mary: In the summer of 1978, the Jack Nelson Swim Camp rented out the entire hotel on the beach where the present day Marriott Harbor Beach exists. Our family moved in too! I went from being the youngest in a family of six children to being the youngest in a camp of about 100 children; which meant lots of attention.
Dan: I grew up on a sheep farm in Indiana. During the summers, my sister and I would organize mini triathlons with other neighborhood children. Proving that my competitive nature was strong at a young age!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1921 NE 26 Street, Wilton Manors, FL 33305
- Website: www.aquachamps.com
- Phone: 954-561-4844
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/AquaChamps
- Twitter: @aquachamps
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
