John Patnott, who founded the Hope College men's and women's swimming diving programs, has been selected to the College Swimming Coaches Association of America's list of 100 Greatest College Swimming & Diving Coaches of the past 100 years. 

The Greatest Coaches announcement is part of CSCAA's 100th birthday celebration. Last month, the Flying Dutchmen's Josh Boss '02 was chosen to the 100 Greatest Men's Swimmers list.

The CSCAA anniversary will culminate with the Association's convention and awards banquet, May 2-4, 2022 in Rosemont, Illinois.

CSCAA Release

Patnott was chosen from a group of 500 nominees and 263 finalists. He guided the Flying Dutchmen and the Flying Dutch in the pool for 39 seasons from 1978-79 to 2018-19. 

A California native, Patnott came to Hope after serving as Fresno State's head coach from 1972-77.

Patnott led the Flying Dutch to 20 MIAA women's titles and the Flying Dutchmen to 12 MIAA championships. He had a dual meet record of 259-45 with the Flying Dutch and 178-88-1 with the Flying Dutchmen. He coached national champions in 31 events.

"I consider it a real blessing to have been at Hope — a great place to work, good people to work with, good students, the opportunity to work with good athletes," Patnott said when his retirement after the 2018-19 season was announced on April 10, 2018. 

Current Hope head coach Jake Taber '04 swam for Patnott. Taber also served as an assistant coach under Patnott for three seasons (2004-05 to 2006-07) and as co-head coach in the 2018-19 season.

"John's my mentor. I learned a lot when I was swimming for him.  I continued to learn when I was his assistant coach," Taber said in 2018. "He's someone I've talked with an incredible amount of frequency over the years. I look up to him tremendously. I consider him a good friend."

The CSCAA's group of 100 Greatest Coaches account for 346 NCAA and NAIA team titles plus an additional 260 individual diving titles.  

Founded in 1922, the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America was the nation's first organization of college coaches.

"The voters and committee really deserve a lot of credit for making performance the key criterion" CSCAA Executive Director Greg Earhart said. "They ensured that each of the three NCAA divisions and the NAIA were represented, yet made sure that a coach's selection was not simply a product of their longevity or service to the sport."