STAFF

Head Coach

Nicholas Askew

Nicholas Askew was born and raised in Kinston, NC, where he began sports at a very early age. He splashed in his first pool when he was three years old. At age seven he walked onto his first tennis court.

When he was 10 he became a rigorous competitor, being groomed as a future Olympic swimmer. By the end of high school his exceptional swimming and tennis talent earned him the distinguished title of High School Athlete of the Year. In 1996, after receiving scholarships for swimming and tennis, Askew left his hometown to study at Howard University in the nation’s capital.

During his time as a dual-sport student- athlete, Askew’s achievements mounted: he broke several swimming records, served as team captain and became a six-time conference champion. He also acquired the “Most Valuable Player” award four times – three times for swimming and once for tennis. He had the distinguishment of being the only student-athlete to have earned an MVP award in two sports in the same year.

In 2001, he became an assistant coach at his alma mater, helping to recruit top talent and train them into even stronger athletes. The following year, he began to empower more young people as the director of programs at the Prince George’s Tennis and Education Foundation in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

With nearly two decades of experience as a professional coach, Askew has worked with top athletes from around the globe, helping to nurture them into top-ranked district, state-level, and national-level athletes. "He doesn’t just teach youth how to compete; he uses sport to teach athletes life skills, such as leadership, accountability, discipline and patience.

Askew’s coaching style along with his commitment to empowering students and the community has earned him several honors including "Coach of the Week," "Coach of the Year," and "Professional of the Year." He continues to be highlighted by Howard University magazine, The Washington Post, WHUR, WTOP, NBC4, ABC7, WUSA9, DCW50 and USA Swimming for his various accomplishments.

Currently in his fifth season as the head coach for Howard University, the nation's only historically black college or university with a Division 1 swim and dive team, Askew has grown the program tremendously. In his third season both men’s and women’s teams boasted their best records in nearly 30 years. Additionally, they finished the dual meet season undefeated at home. To date, Howard has broken 35 school records.

A proud Bison, Askew has a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. In addition to coaching, he continues to serve as a mentor and teacher.

Distance Coach

Salim King

Mid-Atlantic regional recruiter

Salim King is a native of Hempstead, New York. He attended Hempstead High School from 1993 to 1997. During his attendance there, he was a member of the Swimming and Diving team. Heavily recruited, Salim decided to attend Howard University upon graduation. At Howard, he majored in Afro American studies and minored in elementary and physical education. While at Howard, Salim was a member of the Howard University swimming and diving team. As a member of the team, he became both a school record holder in the 1650-yard freestyle and a team captain.

After graduation, Salim became a teacher for the Prince George’s County Public Schools system. While working full time as a teacher, Salim taught private swim lessons on occasion to friends and family but desired to begin coaching on a larger and more competitive scale. He spent the next four years as Head Coach at Central High School, where he produced the school’s first all-state swimmer.

Salim then went on to coach the Kingfish Swim team in the Prince-Mount swim league for two seasons. As Head Coach, Salim lead the Kingfish to a 14-2 combined record before being offered an opportunity to return to his Alma Mater. Salim has worked with the Howard University Swimming and Diving program for the last 4 years. He enjoys working with the current crop of distant swimmers as they help move the Bison to new heights.

Assistant Coach

Darrell Fogan

Darrell Fogan founded the Metro Wellness in 1994 and has been teaching for over 30 years. Armed with innovative and specially designed teaching techniques, Fogan set out to encourage people to become mindful swimmers and to push to perform at a higher performance level.

Fogan spent 16 years as a faculty member and as the Director of Aquatics within Howard University's Health Human Performance and Leisure Studies Department, while simultaneously running Metro Wellness Institute Inc.

Fogan earned his Master’s in Sport Management and Health from Howard University and published his thesis entitled "The Barriers That Impact the Swimming Ability of African-Americans Attending a Southeastern Historically Black College and University (HBCU)". While teaching, Fogan was featured in a New York University (NYU) documentary "Teaching Blacks to Swim Through Fear".

In 1995 and 2001, he took some time to travel to China and study at the Beijing Wushu Institute. His second trip to China was during the infamous and heartbreaking 9/11 terrorists attack. He was supposed to board Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon that day. Two days before the deadly crash, Fogan decided to change his flight to China and catch a plane the day before. The Washington Post wrote an article about Fogan's life sparing moment in 2002. Today, he is a second degree black belt and continues to study the art of Tai Chi. After 9/11, Fogan was inspired to live each day to his fullest potential and to keep teaching valuable skills sets that could potentially save people's lives.

Now, Fogan is the Aquatics Specialist/Swimming Coach for Dunbar High School, and he is the Assistant Swimming Coach for Howard University's men’s and women’s swimming and diving team, which is the last HBCU Division I swim team in the country. He also continues to run Metro Wellness Institute Inc.

Strength & Wellness Coach

Jasmine Payne

Jasmine Payne is a strength and wellness coach currently residing in Maryland. She is a native of Mobile, Alabama, and it was there she began her athletic career at a young age; playing softball recreationally and in high school. Her drive and dedication within the sport landed her a full athletic scholarship to Southern University where she received her bachelors in Therapeutic Recreation with honors, excelling not only as an athlete but as a student-athlete as well. During her career at the University she was a 3-time Dean’s List candidate, and 2-time President’s List candidate. It was also within those University walls that she acquired a love for people and a desire to give back to her community.

And give back she did! In 2017, she received her Ace Personal Training Certificate and began personal training and teaching strength and wellness, offering her athletes not only insight into the physical but also the emotional and mental. Jasmine understands the high demands of a collegiate career and takes measures to ensure that each athlete is able to maintain and succeed through a complete understanding of wellness. She believes it’s important to teach her athletes and not just to train them, offering a more holistic approach to the art that encompasses body, mind, and spirit. She believes that in aligning this trinity it gives the athlete the opportunity to achieve a better form of self.

Jasmine is in her second year as the Howard University Swimming & Diving Yoga specialist. In addition to designing and implementing the yoga training, she assists with the teams recovery program including static stretching, dynamic stretching and physiotherapy.