Coaches
Coach Salazar is originally from Madrid, Spain, and moved to the United States in 2001. Her professional journey has taken her from working as an English teacher and at Madrid-Barajas International Airport in Spain to working as a medical and legal interpreter and translator in Georgia. She is currently a Spanish teacher at Milton High School and is beginning her 15th year as an educator.
Although her own journey into competitive swimming came later in life, swimming became an important part of her family when her daughter began swimming at the age of three. As her daughter progressed through competitive swimming and continued through high school, Coach Salazar spent countless hours on the pool deck, learning the sport, studying technique and training, and developing a deep understanding and appreciation for competitive swimming. What began as a way to support her daughter grew into a personal passion for the sport and a desire to help young swimmers develop both in and out of the pool.
Coach Salazar has extensive coaching experience in both cross country and swimming. She has coached cross country at Centennial High School, Haynes Bridge Middle School, and Milton High School. In swimming, she coached at Centennial High School and served as Head Coach for the past four years. She is excited to bring her experience as an educator and coach, along with her passion for swimming and commitment to student-athletes, to her new role as Head Coach of Milton Swim.
Coach Salazar believes that successful coaching is about much more than developing strong athletes. It is about building confidence, discipline, resilience, teamwork, and a love for the sport. She is excited to continue learning alongside her swimmers and to help the Milton Swim team grow, compete, and build a strong team culture.
Coach Nelson was born in Venezuela and moved to Georgia when he was 7 years old. Growing up, he swam for a summer league team and year round club at Swim Atlanta. He attended Duluth High School, where he was a member of their high school swim team, serving as their captain his senior year. Coach Nelson was a summer league coach for 11 summers and a year-round coach for 7 years at Atlanta Swim Academy and most recently Swim Atlanta Roswell. He is a husband and father - he can't wait for a bigger family! Swim coaching is his passion, and he can't wait for this upcoming season of Milton high school swim!
Tyler was born and raised in Milton, and graduated from Milton in 2020. Having swam for Swim Atlanta for most of his childhood and adolescent life, he enjoyed his four years as a part of Milton Swim & Dive. Tyler’s favorite races to swim were 100 fly, 100 free, and 50 free. A sprinter through and through. After his time came to a close at Milton, he attended Auburn University and still got laps in where he could between studies. After graduating, he moved back to his hometown to start his job as a Pediatric ICU nurse at CHOA. Helping to coach and giving back to the program he once swam for is an opportunity he is quite excited for!
Ms. Rhodes is a native of Milton, GA who graduated from Milton High School in 2015. She started swimming at 9 years old, when her and her sister joined the City of Alpharetta Sharks summer swim team. She swam with the Sharks until she was 18 years old and was a member of the MHS Swim team from 2011 to 2014, most often swimming the 100 Back Stroke and 200 Free. Ms. Rhodes also coached with the Sharks under Mimo McAlister (Shultz) while lifeguarding at the Alpharetta City Pool. She went to University of Georgia for undergrad and got her Masters in School Counseling at Vanderbilt University, all while keeping up with swimming recreationally. She moved back to the Atlanta area during the summer of 2021 and started her position as a High School Counselor with Fulton County Schools that August. Since then, she's served three seasons as Milton Swim's Staff Coach, but is stepping back into a part-time volunteer role for the 26-27 season.