As a student at Fernley High School, Morgan Miller-Charles helped establish the school’s first swim team during the 2008-09 school year and competed for the team for three years.
As a college swimmer at San Jose State University, she became a Western Athletic Conference champion, earned multiple Academic All-American honors and earned a place on the university's all-time top-10 list.
Now she’s creating a new program aimed at giving local swimmers access to quality competitive swimming while also serving recreational swimmers.
Miller-Charles has started the Desert Surge Swim Club, which will be affiliated with USA Swimming and will provide athletes with opportunities to compete in USA Swimming-sanctioned meets.
“For newer competitive swimmers, the goal is to introduce competition in a positive and developmentally appropriate way,” Miller-Charles said. “More experienced athletes will have opportunities to pursue higher levels of competition as they progress.”
Miller-Charles is currently building a list of interested swimmers, with plans to begin practice in either late August or early September, after the Fernley Swimming Pool reopens following its roof repairs.
She said Desert Surge will serve swimmers ages 5–18 and will welcome athletes across a range of experience levels, from recreational swimmers to more advanced competitive athletes.
The program's mission is to develop confident, resilient and well-rounded athletes through quality coaching, competitive swimming and a culture rooted in four pillars: mental toughness, complete athletic development, competitive confidence and strength of character.
The team will initially have three training groups. The Blue Group will be for swimmers who are developing their foundational skills, generally ages 10 and under. Swimmers joining this group will need to be able to swim one length of the pool, 25 yards, with their face in the water.
The White Group will be for intermediate swimmers, generally ages 9-12, and the Gold Group will be for advanced and competitive swimmers, generally ages 13 and up. The White and Gold groups will focus increasingly on competitive development, training, race skills, conditioning and preparing athletes to compete at USA Swimming-sanctioned meets.
Practices will take place in the afternoons and evenings at the Fernley Swimming Pool, Monday through Thursday. Miller-Charles said she is still working with the pool to finalize practice times.
In addition to in-water training, Desert Surge will incorporate dryland athletic development into the program. Nathaniel Charles is a National Academy of Sports Medicine-certified personal trainer who will serve as an assistant and dryland coach and will lead a weekly dryland session for the White and Gold groups.
“The goal is to develop the entire athlete, not simply improve swimming times,” Morgan Miller-Charles said. “Dryland will complement the swimming program through strength, movement, mobility, and general athletic development.”
Miller-Charles has more than six years of coaching experience, working with swimmers ranging from beginners to national-level competitors.
“I have had the opportunity to train and coach under Olympic-level coaches, which has helped develop my athlete-centered coaching philosophy,” she said. “I believe competitive swimming can teach kids much more than how to swim faster. It can develop discipline, resilience, confidence, accountability, and the ability to work toward something that is difficult.”
Miller-Charles said she grew up swimming in Fernley. She swam on the Northern Nevada Aquatics team owned and coached by Eric Scalise, an NCAA All-American at UNLV who qualified for four separate U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
After graduating from Fernley High School in 2011, she swam for one season at Sierra College, where she was a 2012 Community College All-American in seven events. She transferred to San Jose State in 2013 and competed for three seasons for the Spartans.
“I grew up swimming here, so I want to give back to the community that shaped my athletic journey by creating a program that gives local families access to competitive swimming without requiring them to travel long distances for regular practices,” Miller-Charles said. “I want it to become a community where young athletes can grow, compete, and develop skills that will serve them well both in and out of the pool.”
Miller-Charles said the club will hold its first team evaluations after the pool reopens to assess the skill level of each swimmer who joins.
Families with an interested swimmer may submit a form online at www.desertsurgeswimclub.com or email Miller-Charles at [email protected].
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