David Nehls was appointed as the William Paterson men’s and women’s swimming and diving head coach in August of 2025.
Nehls, who was named one of the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Top 50 Age Group Coaches in the U.S. in 2024, comes to WP after spending the previous five years as the head age group coach and operations manager for Phoenix Aquatic Club in Rockland County, N.Y.
He coached over 20 athletes to the National Age Group (NAG) Top 20 rankings, including more than 10 Top 10 finishes and a 2024 national runner-up. Under his guidance, the Phoenix Aquatic Club was named one of the ASCA Top 100 Age Group Teams in 2024 and 2025.
While with the Phoenix Aquatic Club, he also spent two seasons at Ramapo College as an assistant swim coach for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns.
Prior to Ramapo, Nehls served as the head site coach for the Life Time Metro Swim Team from 2019-21.
After graduating from Ramapo in 2011 with a bachelor’s in environmental studies, he spent over seven years as an assistant swim coach for the Roadrunners, helping his alma mater post a 38-20 mark.
Nehls also gained experience as a head coach at Ramsey High School (2017-20) and with Erskine Lakes Aquatic Club (2016-18).
