New family: PK Yonge swim champion Lillian Nesty signs with Texas, not dad at Florida

Lillian Nesty grew up with swimming royalty.

She's the daughter of Gators swimming head coach Anthony Nesty, who won two Olympic medals in the 100-meter freestyle (gold in 1988 and bronze in 1992), and three national championships in the early 1990s at the University of Florida. Her mother, Deanne, also swam in college at the University of Minnesota.

But when it came time for the PK Yonge senior to pick where she’d like to continue her athletic career, Lillian chose to leave her cocoon and venture towards the Lone Star (State).

Lillian officially signed with the University of Texas on Thursday. She previously announced her decision on Instagram in February.

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Why Texas?

“I really love the team and the coaches, and I also love that they have a great academic side of things,” Lillian said. “It’s a good balance between swimming and academics. That’s one of the big things I was looking for in a school.”

Lillian said she took official visits to five schools.

For a time, Stanford led the pack. However, UT began to express interest last fall and winter as she won her first FHSAA Class 1A title last November in the 200 free. Her time of 1:46.65 broke school records and gave her an All-American nod.

The Horns hooked Lillian from her first visit.

“Whenever I was on a phone call with them, they would always talk to me like I’m a person, not just a prospect,” Lillian said. “We had some great talks on the phone during the recruiting process, and I think that’s one of the big things that contributed to my decision.”

At home, both parents let her coaches do their job. Lillian added she prefers this as well as it draws a clear distinction between swimming and family life.

“I don’t talk swimming with her at all,” Anthony said.

“We just encourage her; that’s how we’ve always been,” Deanne said. “A lot of times, she’ll have questions, and we say, ‘go to your coach.’ We’re going to cheer you on, but we’re not your coaches.”

Why not Florida?

Anthony’s attitude carried over to the recruiting process. He told coaches early on that he wanted to stay out.

“If Lillie’s going to come to Florida, it’s not because of me,” Anthony said. “It’s because the assistant coaches on the team and Gainesville the city.”

He especially didn’t want to sway her in one direction or the other since he’s witnessed the negative aftereffects of that.

“When a parent pushes a kind to one place, and the kid gets there, and he or she hates it, it’s not a very good situation,” Anthony said. “She had to make this call.”

Given his years of recruiting swimmers, Lillian admitted she used her father as a helpful resource.

“He was able to give me an insight a little bit, so I was able to pick and choose which schools I think I’ll do well at, and which schools maybe aren’t for me,” Lillian said.

When the time came to pick Texas, she said her parents supported her whole-heartedly.

“I think she wanted to get away from Gainesville, get away from dad,” Anthony said with a laugh.

“Gainesville is just a little small, especially if you’ve grown up in the swimming world,” Deanne said. “I think it’s great she’s going to branch out and follow her own path and desires.”

Even though 1,000 miles separate Gainesville and Austin, the two schools will be brought closer together next season with Texas’ entry into the SEC.

The Gators and Longhorns hold arguably the two best swim programs in the conference, and Anthony said he’s excited for a “friendly” rivalry with Lillian and UT coach Carol Capitani.

Deanne didn’t say which side she’d root for and instead pondered what shirt she’d wear.

What's next for Lillian?

Lillian still has much to accomplish before she jets off to Austin. Last week, she collected two additional state titles in 200 and 500 free.

Now, she turns her eyes to the penultimate test – the U.S. Olympic Trials for the 2024 Games next summer in Paris. Lillian reached the cut in 200 free and 400 free with her times at February’s Orlando Sectionals.

Anthony and Deanne already will be in Paris next summer as the coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team.

“That would be the icing on the cake for us,” Anthony said.

For Lillian, her current focus resides on Winter Junior Championships, held Dec. 6-9. She knows, though, once trials begin in June, she won’t be intimidated.

“That’s a big level to be swimming at, and there’s lots of elite athletes there who have been doing this a lot longer than I have,” she said. “But it’s exciting because I am at that level with them.”

Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun. Contact him at Nram@gannett.com and follow him @Noah_ram1 on Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Lillian Nesty, daughter of UF swim coach Anthony Nesty, signs at Texas