March 24, 2015
Since she was a young child, Angie Nicolletta has been enamored with swimming. The Marietta, Ga., native swam four years at Louisville, where she set the school record in the 200-butterfly and contributed to three relay records. After college, she immediately got into coaching at the club level with the Lakeside Seahawks in Louisville and then returned home to become the Head Site Coach for the Marietta Stingrays. After a year as a volunteer assistant coach at the Air Force Academy, she came to Vanderbilt and is in her third season.
Was there any particular reason you started swimming?
I actually asked my mom over Thanksgiving, how did you know? She said, `When you were a baby, when we put you in the water, the first thing you did was the dolphin (kick) under the water – immediately. You were just a natural at it.’ I’m surprised they didn’t put me in more sports but I think they just wanted to concentrate on one or two…. In the south, summer league is kind of a big deal. In Georgia, it’s huge. So every neighborhood that has a pool you have a summer league team. That was the thing to do growing up in the summer, everyone swam summer league. I think my first year was when I was 6.
Though you’re taller, you never played basketball?
No. I always shot around with my dad and my brothers. My dad played in college. My brother played up until high school. My dad’s cousin played up at Xavier in Cincinnati. Basketball was definitely in the family. Basketball was always a thing but my dad was like, `She likes swimming. She’s good at it. We’re going to stick with it.’ I never had the urge to want to. I loved swimming and I loved tennis too. I love team sports. But I guess I didn’t have that itch. I’m glad that my dad didn’t push me into more sports, honestly. I was coordinated but that doesn’t mean I need to do every sport… My dad, he is so funny. The older I got the less strict he was with swimming. In middle school and high school, my dad wouldn’t let me go bowling because he was afraid I would throw my shoulder out. So I would tell my parents we were going to go play putt-putt and we would go bowling. We loved to bowl. I’m not going to throw my shoulder out bowling.
How was your college experience at Louisville?
I wouldn’t take it back for the world. If I had ever quit, I would have regretted it so bad. I loved every aspect. You go through college, you’re learning, you’re becoming an adult so there are a lot of lessons learned through college. I wouldn’t regret anything I did. There are so many lessons learned when you’re an athlete and you’re competing and you’re going to school. You grow up so much. I loved it. I would do it over and over again. I enjoyed the whole team aspect. It was very much my family. I still talk to all the kids I swam with.
Talk about your coaching experience on the club level, learning from coaches Mike DeBoor (Lakeside Seahawks) and Ian Goss (Marietta Stingrays).
They are two of mentors. I can always go to them about anything. When I moved back home (with the Marietta Stingrays), I was with Ian. I was Head Site Coach. It was a developing pool. I had a real small group of kids. I was on my own but not on my own. So it was nice. I grew up. I for sure learned a lot. Having to deal with parents on my own. But Ian was awesome. For me it was the next step. Then I got the chance to coach with Casey Converse. Being at the Air Force Academy was amazing. Getting a lot of information, learning about all aspects of the military, I liked that kind of stuff. I liked knowing about our military and learning about the stuff. The academy was insane. The fact that they’re athletes and in school and at the academy, it is just a pile on pile of stuff they have to do. It takes your breath away. You have so much respect for these people.
How has your coaching experience been at Vanderbilt?
I’ve learned a lot, definitely. It is so much different than club swimming and I was a part of college swimming but learning all the new rules. I love it. The girls that are here just keep getting better and better every year. So it is exciting, breaking records every year. Not just a few – a lot. They have already broken a few so far this season. I’m really excited to see what we can do this year in SECs. And hopefully we’ll get a girl to go to NCAAs this year (for the first time). We have great girls coming in and they’re doing amazing jobs. The team is meshing.
How do you like to spend your free time?
I try and get outside as much as I can. I love hiking. I’ve got two Huskies (Loki and Sky) so I have to be very active but I also love being active. I love dogs. So I take them hiking as much as I can. They go to the lake in the summer. I do yoga and cross fit here and there. I got into paddle boarding over the summer.
