Olympic gold medalist John Hargis is named Arkansas-Little Rock head swim coach after a stint as the assistant coach this spring. Hargis is replacing Richard Turner who after 24 years of coaching at UALR will continue to serve as the Assistant Director of Athletics for Compliance.  

"We are extremely fortunate to have someone of John’s qualifications involved in our program,” said Turner. “No one has achieved at such a high level in the state of Arkansas in swimming.”

A native of Little Rock, Ark., Hargis enters his first head coaching position after coaching stints at Penn State, where he coached NCAA Qualifiers, Olympians, and Senior National Qualifiers as well as helped lead the women’s team to the 2005 Big Ten Championship, and the University of Nevada, where he coached the Mountain West Conference Male Swimmer of the Year.

The Arkansas Swimming Hall of Fame inductee won the 100 butterfly at the 1996 Olympic trials and competed for the United States at the Olympics in Atlanta, Ga. He was a member of the 400 medley relay team that won the gold medal.

A three-time Southeastern Conference 100 butterfly champion and 12-time college All-American, Hargis competed at Auburn University where he holds the SEC 100 butterfly record.

Hargis graduated from Auburn in 1999 with his Bachelor of Science degree in Health Promotion and Sports Management.

Hargis resides in Little Rock, Ark. with his wife Lauren who is the Assistant Athletic Trainer at UALR. They are expecting their first child this summer.