What is Total Aquatic Programming?
For decades, one name has been quietly shaping the future of aquatics across North America: Total Aquatic Programming (TAP).
Spectrum Aquatics is a proud sponsor of TAP and their services.
Total Aquatic Programming is an aquatic consulting and education organization that helps communities, swim coaches, architects, and parks departments build financially sustainable aquatic facilities. Through Build & Program a Pool workshops, Owner's Advocate services, aquatic planning, and professional education, TAP has helped shape over 200 successful aquatic facilities over the past five decades.
While many organizations focus on designing or constructing aquatic facilities, Total Aquatic Programming has always believed something much more important comes first:
Programming MUST Precede Design.
It's a philosophy based on their four-pillar approach to creating sustainable aquatic facilities that has helped communities avoid costly mistakes, create financially sustainable aquatic centers, and ultimately provide places where people of every age and ability can learn, compete, rehabilitate, exercise, and simply enjoy the water.
TAP's Four Pillars include: 
- Learn to Swim
- Sports and Recreation
- Fitness
- Therapy
A Lifetime Dedicated to Aquatics
Total Aquatic Programming was founded by Mick and Sue Nelson, two of the most respected names in the aquatic industry. Their journey began more than 50 years ago when they built and operated their own successful aquatic center, gaining firsthand knowledge of what it truly takes to create a facility that serves its community while remaining financially sustainable. Over the years, they expanded that expertise through swim schools, therapy programs, competitive swimming, aquatic consulting, and facility development before leading USA Swimming's Facilities Development program.
Throughout their careers, the Nelsons have helped guide the planning and development of nearly 200 aquatic facilities, always with one goal in mind: creating centers that thrive for generations rather than struggle to survive.
Their extraordinary contributions to aquatics have earned international recognition, including honors from the International Swimming Hall of Fame, celebrating decades of leadership, innovation, and service to the aquatic community with the AquaCal Award!
Saving Pools Means Saving Communities
One of the greatest challenges facing aquatic facilities today isn't construction, it's sustainability.
Communities across the country continue to lose pools because they were never designed with long-term programming, operational costs, staffing, or revenue generation in mind. Once a pool closes, the community loses much more than a place to swim.
It loses a place where children learn life-saving skills, where athletes chase championships, where seniors stay healthy, where families gather on hot summer afternoons, and where neighbors become lifelong friends.
Total Aquatic Programming has spent years helping reverse that trend by teaching communities how to build facilities that are designed to succeed long after the ribbon cutting.
St. Vrain Valley School District's Silver Creek High School in Longmont, Colorado, partnered with Total Aquatic Programming to bring its vision for a new aquatic facility to life.
The Lasting Impact of Build & Program a Pool
Perhaps no initiative better represents TAP's mission than the Build & Program a Pool Workshops.
For more than two decades, this nationally recognized educational program has equipped parks and recreation leaders, swim coaches, aquatic directors, architects, school districts, and community stakeholders with the knowledge they need before construction ever begins.
Rather than focusing only on pool dimensions and construction documents, the workshop teaches attendees how to develop programming, operational plans, staffing models, and financial strategies that create vibrant, sustainable aquatic centers.
Every successful Build & Program a Pool participant has the potential to impact thousands of lives throughout the lifetime of their facility.
That's what makes this workshop so much more than an educational event, it is an investment in the future of aquatics.
Yearly workshops include:
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National Build and Program a Pool - in cooperation with AOAP
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Coaches Build and Program a Pool - in cooperation with ASCA
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Virtual Build and Program a Pool - offered anytime at your convenience
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Custom Build and Program a Pool - Mick and Sue come to you
Sonoma Valley High School partnered with Total Aquatic Programming to ensure its aquatic facility was thoughtfully planned, sustainably designed, and built for long-term success.
Continuing the Mission
As Total Aquatic Programming continues to grow, they're expanding their ability to share this important message.
The recent addition of Kent Nelson as Director of Marketing marks an exciting new chapter for the organization. His role will help broaden awareness of TAP's educational resources, industry expertise, and commitment to helping communities create aquatic facilities that truly stand the test of time.
Kent has a long history with swimming being raised by Mick and Sue. Kent was a USA Swimming Head Coach for 20 years, with a background as an NCAA Division III swimmer and diver.
With fresh energy supporting an already remarkable legacy, TAP is well positioned to inspire even more aquatic professionals, community leaders, and future facility owners in the years ahead.
More Than a Workshop: A Complete Partner for Aquatic Success
While the Build & Program A Pool Workshop is what many people first discover about Total Aquatic Programming, it represents just one piece of a much larger mission. TAP has developed a comprehensive suite of services designed to help aquatic facilities succeed from the earliest planning stages through long-term operation and growth.
1. Aquatic Health Club Model
One of TAP's most innovative initiatives is the Aquatic Health Club Model. Aquatic centers are vital community assets that support public health, water safety, recreation, rehabilitation, and long-term quality of life. However, many facilities continue to be viewed too narrowly as seasonal amenities or financial burdens.
Through TAP and the Training & Education Network Team, the Aquatic Health Club Model Initiative was developed to help leaders rethink how aquatic centers are perceived, planned, and sustained. This model is built on the principle that aquatic centers can be both functional and financially sustainable when they are designed, developed, and delivered with purpose.
NL Aquatic Center in Vorhees, NJ took programming to the next level with swim schools, swim clinics for all ages, SJAC Swim Team, lifeguard classes, exercise and fitness classes, camps, open swim, therapy, special needs, water babies, and masters swimming!
2. Owner's Advocate Services
The Owner Advocate Service ensures that TAP can be an essential part of your team. If you encounter questions about new buildings, renovating current buildings, or equipment, air, and water concerns, it can help you think outside the box when developing your water programs.
TAP owners have over 40 years of experience in constructing and operating aquatic centers, coupled with expertise in designing, developing, and implementing tailored water programs. When they don't have the answers, they reach out to their Dream Team Partners of industry experts.
It is important to seize the opportunity to "get it right" during the planning and design phase. Once plans are approved and construction begins, it may be too late.
Total Aquatic Design
Through Total Aquatic Design, provides premium graphic design, customizable programs, and apps built for swim teams, aquatic facilities, and coaches. From team apparel to custom branding, TAP helps you make your team look legendary.
Total Aquatic Education & Training Institute
Even the best-designed aquatic facility is only as successful as the people operating it.
That's why TAP created the Total Aquatic Education & Training Institute, an educational resource dedicated to helping aquatic professionals continuously grow their knowledge and leadership skills. Through workshops, specialized training, operational resources, and practical education, the institute equips policy makers, aquatic directors, supervisors, instructors, and frontline staff with the tools they need to create safer, stronger, and more sustainable aquatic programs.
Rather than focusing solely on technical knowledge, TAP emphasizes real-world application, leadership development, and innovative programming strategies that help facilities evolve alongside the changing needs of their communities. The result is better-trained professionals, stronger organizations, and ultimately, better experiences for every person who walks through the doors of an aquatic center.
Build and Program a Pool Workshop, 2024
A Tribute to Mick and Sue Nelson
Mick and Sue Nelson have always measured success by the lives changed and saved because people have access to a thriving aquatic facility.
For decades, they have poured their hearts into the aquatic industry, not for recognition or accolades, but because they genuinely believe that every community deserves a place where children learn to swim, athletes chase their dreams, families create lifelong memories, and people of every age and ability can experience the joy and healing power of the water.
Their influence reaches far beyond blueprints and pool decks. It lives in every swim lesson that prevents a drowning, every coach who finally has enough lane space for a growing team, every senior who regains strength through aquatic therapy, and every community that still has a thriving aquatic center because someone took the time to plan it the right way.
They have mentored generations of aquatic professionals, freely shared their knowledge, and inspired countless leaders to think beyond simply constructing pools. That philosophy has become the foundation of Total Aquatic Programming.
Because of Mick and Sue's lifelong dedication, the future of aquatics is brighter, stronger, and more welcoming for generations to come!