At Fullerton, he earned honors as an All American Junior College swimmer, and a medley relay team national record holder.

[6] After completing his Naval service, Nitzkowski earned a master's degree in history and teaching credentials from CSU Long Beach in 1955, where he was an instructor.

Establishing an exceptional record, his Long Beach water polo teams went without a loss for eight consecutive seasons.

[1] He was known for applying his knowledge of the complex offensive and defensive strategies used in soccer and basketball to the game of water polo.

In both the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, he co-coached with fellow Southern California Hall of Fame Water Polo Coach Robert Horn, against whom his college team would also compete.

[8] His Olympic teams won a bronze medal in the Munich in 1972, and a silver in Los Angeles in 1984.

He summered on the Maine coastline, enjoyed playing the Ukulele, a hobby that grew in popularity among beachgoers, surfers and swimmers in the 1950s, travelled extensively and spent time with family.