A Columbia High School graduate who went on to swim at Texas A&M University was selected as the male representative for all of the Southeast Conference to attend an NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum held last week.      

Carter Nelson became involved in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during his sophomore year at Texas A&M. His dedication and community service got him elected to the executive board as the vice president of selfless service this academic year as a  junior.  

The NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum took place April 13-16 in Baltimore. Each conference in the NCAA elects one male and one female to represent their conference at the event, where they are provided the opportunity to enhance leadership skills and professional development.     

While swimming is what got him to Aggieland, Nelson never wanted to just be defined as the “swimmer that went to Texas A&M.” He wanted to get involved and experience new roles and develop himself in all areas of life knowing he would leave the university and the sport of swimming ready for what the future holds.   

In addition to reaching his Olympic Trials Cut in 2021 in the 50 meter freestyle, Nelson has reached all personal best times in his three events (50-yard freestyle at 19.79 seconds, 100-yard freestyle at 43.54 seconds and 200-yard freestyle at 1:35.28) and earned trips to two NCAA meets (2021 in the 800 free relay and 2023 as a relay alternate).   

The challenges however, started out freshman year due to COVID restrictions, classes being online and contact tracing quarantines despite negative tests. At one point, Nelson was quarantined back-to-back, having him out of team practice for 20 days. He took it upon himself to ride his bike to a lake 13 miles from his dorm to swim and then ride the 13 miles back.  

Nelson’s sophomore year at A&M started with an early season back injury that had him out for over half of the season and unprepared for championship meets. The grind of overcoming the challenges and seeing through his commitment – as well as his ability to put focus on other things important to him – has allowed him to create the balance needed to stay mentally healthy through the highs and lows and be ready for a future career and life without swimming.  

He is an AD Honor Roll Student in the Department of Architecture as a construction science major at A&M.