Long-time North Texas Nadadores (NTN) coach Bill Christensen has tendered his resignation to the club, effective August 20th. Christen was the head coach of the Southlake, Texas-based program since April of 2002.
During Christensen’s time with the club, they’ve turned out a number of swimmers who went on to big college careers – including recently University of Texas teammates Brett Ringgold and Jonathan Roberts. Ringgold was 9th in the 50 free, 12th in the 100 fly, and tied for 5th in the 100 free at the 2017 NCAA Championships, while Roberts was 8th in the 200 IM, 6th in the 400 IM, and 8th in the 200 back.
Ringgold also swam on NCAA title-winning 200 medley, 200 free, and 400 free relays in finals, plus in prelims on the 400 medley relay, which wound up winning the title without him in finals.
2016 Olympic medalist Katie Meili (gold in the 400 medley relay, bronze in the 100 breaststroke) is also a former Nadadore under Christensen’s tenure. She was named a captain of the 2017 U.S. team at the World Championships in her first-ever appearance at that meet.
Christensen’s swimmers have also contributed to the dynasty that is the Southlake Carroll High School swim teams (whose pool the NTNs train out of). That team has become the most dominant in Texas High School Swimming, winning the boys’ large school classification state championship for the last 7 years, including breaking meet scoring records, while the girls won a title as recently as 2013, which capped a run of three straight.
The club has finished as high as 6th place at the Junior National Championships under Christensen’s leadership. At the 2017 U.S. Open, the Nadadores finished 17th, though that scoring was all done by Ringgold and Roberts, whose training home is at Texas. The team was represented by three junior-aged athletes at this year’s World Championship Trials – Jack LeVant, who won the 18 & under final in the 200 fly and 200 free; Christopher Lindley, who was 11th in the 800 free; and Natalie Whalen, who was 37th in the women’s 200 fly.
Christensen says that he is pursuing other opportunities and is going to take a few months to figure out what he wants to do next.
A great person. I am a little prejudiced as he is my cousin, but everyone agrees with me. What a great career.
Bill is a fine coach and his departure is a loss for the world of swimming. One can’t help but wonder if his resignation stems from the tragic incident that happened last summer at NTN’s pool.
Incredible coach and person. I could not have asked for a better coach/ mentor in my 4 years at NTN. Coach Bill taught me so much more than just swimming and I will take everything I have learned from him with me for the rest of my life. There are several other swimmers other than the 3 big names that are pointed out in this article that he has brought great success to as well. He, along with the help of southlake carroll head coach Kevin Murphy, developed countless swimmers from the barely A time level to successful division 1 collegiate swimmers competing at the national level. He is an incredibly humble person who never fully accepts the credit he… Read more »
Best wishes for whatever is next Bill. You leave behind a wonderful legacy.
If I were a coach who resigned, I would have a very specific reason why. Id say it was to extract the cleansing vibrations from the waters of the red rocks of Sedona. It would not be true but there would be no speculation as to what other opportunities meant.
This frees up his time to watch the eclipse. Is that specific enough for you?
Wow! I will never understand people on this comment section…how there are always people that feel the need to trash whoever is featured in the article. You obviously don’t know Bill. He is a FANTASTIC coach and a GREAT GREAT person!
Bill, we will definitely miss you on deck! I’m glad I got to see you out in Long Island. Good luck my friend!
One of the most underrated coaches in the country. This guy was always producing champions. I hate to see him leave the sport. He was the ultimate professional, and this is a blow to club swimming. Best of luck Coach Bill!
One of the top age group coaches in the USA for many years and a great individual. Best of Luck Bill!
Congratulations Bill. You have done a fantastic job with the Natadores. I’m so proud of you and even more proud that I can call you my friend