John Nelson

John Maurer Nelson (born June 8, 1948) is an American former competition swimmer for Yale University, a 1964 Olympic medalist, a 1968 Olympic champion, and a former world record-holder.

Nelson was born in Chicago, Illinois, and attended Pompano Beach High School in Pompano Beach, Florida. In the summer of 1967, Nelson trained with the Jack Nelson Swim Club in Fort Lauderdale. Prior to 1967, he trained with Bob Ousley of the Fort Lauderdale Swimming Association. From 1962-1964, he won the Florida State Championship in the 100 and 200 freestyle events for three successive years, swimming them in record times. In 1964, he helped lead Pompano Beach to a state championship in swimming.

Yale Nelson enrolled in Yale University, around 1966, where he swam for coach Phil Moriarty's Yale Bulldogs swimming and diving team, which included other Olympic-caliber swimmers such as Don Schollander. Nelson missed much of his Freshman swimming year from illness. For the 1968 Olympics, he was trained by Hall of Fame Coach Sherm Chavoor at the Arden Hills Swim Club in Sacramento, as were fellow 1968 U.S. team swimming Olympians Mark Spitz, Mark J. Burton, John Ferris and Sue Peterson. Chavoor was one of the early coaches to challenge elite swimmers with "overdistance training", which focused on workouts that gave more total yardage and semi-frequent mid-range and longer distance intervals to build greater endurance and speed.

In 1985, Nelson was practicing medicine in Salt Lake City, Utah.