John Patnott started the Hope College swimming program in 1978 and has developed it into one of the nation's finest small college programs for men and women.
Three times in his career he has been voted the NCAA Division III national Coach-of-the-Year by the College Swimming Coaches Association. He was named the men's national Coach-of-the-Year in 1991 and the women's national Coach-of-the-Year in 1994 and 1998.
Patnott has coached 116 All-Americans and had national champions 30 times during his 32-year Hope career. He has also had 41 Academic All-Americans since 1984.
Both Hope teams are annually competitive in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and at the NCAA Division III national championship meet. He has coached Hope teams to 31 conference championships — 19 by the women and 12 by the men. In terms of total conference championships won (31), he is the winningest active MIAA coach in any sport.
Patnott was raised in the San Francisco Bay area where he swam competitively at the high school, YMCA and AAU levels. He earned the bachelor and master of arts degrees from California State University at Fresno and received the doctoral degree from the University of Utah in 1989. He lettered two years on the Fresno varsity swimming team, serving as team captain in 1969. As a senior he was voted the team's most inspirational swimmer.
Patnott was an assistant coach at California State University in Fresno while working toward his degree and was a full-time instructor and the head swimming coach from 1972-77. Prior to coming to Hope, he was head coach of the varsity swimming and water polo teams at Bullard High School in Fresno and the advanced team coach of the Fresno Swim Club. Bullard was undefeated, winning its league title and section meet.
A professor of kinesiology at Hope, Patnott in 2003 was named the recipient of the Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching in recognition of demonstrated excellence in specific activities or aspects of teaching. Patnott and his wife, Phyllis, have three children.
