Neil Walker

Early life and swimming Walker was born June 25, 1976 to Robert and Barbara Walker in Verona, Wisconsin, ten miles Southwest of Madison. He began swimming competitively around the age of nine, and at the age of ten at the Badger Dolphin January Classic on January 10, 1987, swam the 50 backstroke in a meet record time of 34.91.

Walker's workouts after graduating High School in the summer of 1994 consisted of swim training twice a day at least five days a week, with weight training several days a week, and a 30 minute run twice a week. During his time with the Verona Club, he led the team to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Div 2 team title in 1993, setting a state record in the 200 IM of 1:50.86 and a state record in 1994 of 49.61 in the 100 backstroke. His state records remained in place for decades. In the summer after high school graduation, he was ranked 25th in the world in the 100-meter backstroke.

University of Texas Walker was offered athletic scholarships to Arizona, Florida, Auburn, Texas, and the University of Southern California. After accepting a scholarship to the University of Texas, beginning in the Fall of 1994 he trained and competed for Hall of Fame Head swim Coach Eddie Reese and Associate Coach Kris Kubik. At Texas, he was the recipient of twenty-five All-American honors and won six Conference Championships in the Big-12. As a statement of the team's dominance, he helped Texas win the 1996 NCAA title. Not surprisingly, he was subsequently named Swimmer of the Year for both the NCAA and the Big 12 Conference.

Post-swimming career During his last years as an elite competitive swimmer, Walker coached part-time with Austin's Longhorn Aquatics with exceptional Head Coach Randy Reese as his mentor. After retiring from competitive swimming after the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, he was Aquatics Director for the Rockwall Independent School District outside Dallas, and started the Rockwall Swim School with Olympian and former Longhorn teammate Ian Crocker and U.S. National Champion and former Longhorn teammate James Fike, with locations in Austin and Dallas. As of 2025, he was the head coach of Rockwall Aquatics Center of Excellence (RACE) in Rockwall, Texas, having coached swimming for around twenty years.