Aquatics Staff
AHISD Aquatics Coordinator - Garrett Nelson
[email protected]/[email protected]
As of August of 2025, Garrett was announced as the Alamo Heights ISD Aquatics Coordinator, following Coach Norm Collins' retirement from the position. Garrett has worked at the Alamo Heights Natatorium since the first summer its doors opened in 2021. He looks forward to continuing to help with the continuous growth in the Alamo Heights High School Aquatics team, and all of the club aquatics programs that Alamo Heights Natatorium has to offer.
Garrett is also the head club swim coach for Alamo Area Aquatic Association, at the Alamo Heights location. He took over as the head coach of the program in the Fall of 2021, and has been there ever since. He has received honors from South Texas Swimming Coach peers, as the Large Team Head Coach of the Year for 2022-2023, and 2023-2024 seasons, and was a nominee for the 2024-2025 season. Garrett has a passion for swimming that can be seen by his relentless effort in working with all of the athletes in the program.
AHISD High School Swim, Dive, & Water Polo Coach - Norm Collins
Coach Collins is in his 37th year in education. His teaching specialty is physics. He began teaching in Alamo Heights in 1992. He coached swimming, diving, and water polo for 10 years and established the Alamo Heights aquatic center in 1993. He brought water polo back to Alamo Heights in 1994. During that time, he coached several All-Americans and All-Staters in both swimming and water polo. His girls finished as high as 4th in the state in the UIL swimming and diving championships and 3rd in the state at the TISCA water polo championship. Coach Collins was also a water polo assistant coach for the national youth boys team ages 16-17 in the late 90s. During the summer of 2023, he coached the AAAA Ducks 18&U boys to a 3rd place finish in the Junior Olympics held in North Texas. In 2020 his high school boys swimming and diving team placed 3rd in the state and his 2021 girls placed 4th at state. In 2022, the boys placed 5th. In 2022, the inaugural year of UIL water polo, the girls and boys teams both made it to the 3rd round of the playoffs. In the 2023 playoffs, both teams made it to the 4th round.
Coach Collins ran track and field and played basketball in high school (Idabel, OK) where he set the school record in the high jump of 6 '7". He high jumped and long jumped at Oklahoma State. He first coached track & field and football in Carrollton, Texas after graduating from Oklahoma State in 1985 with his bachelors in science education and 1989 with his Masters in Education Administration. At Alamo Heights, Coach Collins has been the high school swimming and diving coach, water polo coach, track and field coach, club swim coach, science teacher (physics), science department chair, assistant principal, and interim athletic director. He is currently the aquatic coordinator for the district and the head coach for swimming and water polo.
Coach Collins has a wife Nancy, a son Kelly, and a stepson James, a cat named Bonnie and two dogs Harry and Potter. His family is his greatest love.
AHISD Pool Supervisor, AHISD Head Dive Coach, and AAAD Head Coach - Charles Collins
