Spice Nelms is a native Texan, born in 1937 in San Antonio. She excelled at a very young age coached by Jack Tolar with the San Antonio Aquatic Club. She won every Texas age group breaststroke title from the age of 9 to 14. At the age of 12 she was the youngest competitor at the U.S. nationals and finished sixth in the 100-meter breaststroke. She continued competing until the age of 15 when she retired from swimming, since her high school and college did not have a women’s swimming team. In 1973, she was inducted into the Texas Swimming Pool of Fame by Tex Robertson, which spurred her return to the sport she loved as a coach at the Dad’s Club in Houston alongside TSDHOF inductee Pete Payne, where her teams won TAGS each year she was there.