Coach Joel Wilson has been at UCSC since the pool was built in 1988, his primary responsibility being the Head Coach of Santa Cruz Masters. Since 2004 he has been in charge of the UCSC men's and women's distance group, the Slug "D" squad.

Wilson swam collegiately at UC Berkeley where he was Team Captain and All American in the 1650 yd. freestyle. Since his collegiate days, he has continued to swim with Santa Cruz Masters and has maintained national top-5 age group rankings in a variety of events including the 200 butterfly, 400 IM, and 1650 freestyle.

Among Coach Wilson's goals are helping all members of the "D" Squad become as knowledgeable as possible about their chosen events so that they can swim their events as fast as possible, achieving faster times each season. Another goal is to foster a love of swimming that will stay a part of each member's life forever.

Coach Wilson is proud to be associated with the men and women of Slug Swimming and Diving!