IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, has named the leader for its newly created swimming and diving program.
1996 U.S. Olympic gold medalist John Hargis has been tabbed as the first Director of Swimming for IMG Academy, which announced in November that it will launch a swimming and diving program set to begin competition in the fall of 2027.
The program will officially start once construction of a state-of-the-art natatorium is finished. IMG Academy plans on building a 9,345-square-foot natatorium that aims to also “provide an Olympic-caliber training experience.”
Hargis was a member of the U.S. 4×100 medley relay team that won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, where he swam in preliminary heats. He then started a collegiate coaching career.
Hargis served as head coach at Penn State from 2008 to 2013, an associate head coach at Auburn from 2013 to 2016 and most recently as the head coach at Pitt from 2016 to 2022.
“With swimming’s unique ability to impact IMG Academy’s boarding school, camps, and elite
Olympic training pathways, the launch of the program required a truly world-class leader, and John is the perfect person to lead our program,” said Brian Nash, Vice President of Athletics. “His passion for the sport, combined with his Olympic pedigree and proven leadership, makes him the ideal person to build and lead IMG Academy Swimming. John’s vision and experience will inspire our student-athletes and elevate the program to new heights.”
Swimming and diving is the third sport launched by IMG Academy this year, in addition to wrestling and boys’ volleyball.
A popular destination for young athletes around the world, IMG has a holistic education model that mixes an academic curriculum with athletic training and /coaching for students in grades 6-12, as well as post-graduate students. The campus features on-site dormitories for out-of-state and international students and offers an extensive slate of sports camps.
I wish John nothing but the best in his new role. The two criticisms I have that I hope he works on are:
1. Adapting to the modern structure of training in the sport. I have no doubt younger athletes can handle his training style better (assuming he will be coaching).
2. Relationships. At Pitt it was understood by the team that he did not build the relationships with club teams needed to recruit locally or build a strong local brand for the swim team.
As a post script: I have every ounce of faith in his ability to hire qualified coaches. While his training style did not work as well in the college space today as I… Read more »
Just revisited the comments section on his Pitt departure article. My goodness. How do people like this continue to get hired? You’d think IMG would do better. Hope all the would-be IMG’ers take a gander at those SwimSwam comments before dropping $80k to swim for him. Wow.
Where does IMG academy get all the money it has?
Expensive tuition, rich alumni?
IMG is a machine in most sports it touches. It does have lots of rich alumni because lots of them have gone on to careers in pro sports, but that’s not the business model.
Day-only tuition is like $70k, boarder tuition is like $85-$90k. People pay it because it’s a proven (though not guaranteed) pathway to professional success, just like they would at a Milton Academy or a Shortridge Academy. And while the tuition is significant, that’s not even the crux of it…
Then they manage the athletes all the way to their pro careers. Recruiting services, NIL services…and then when they finish college and start their pro careers, the relationships are there and IMG wants them to sign… Read more »
So the students are parents with lots of money. I’m curious if the academy offers scholarships.
I’m excited to see how they operate the program. I want swimming to continue to improve and adapt and if this is a necessary step I’m all for it.
Uhm. Question for the author of this article. The first word of the second paragraph? It just seems odd. In what way is he a former Olympic gold medalist?
I always thought that once an Olympian always an Olympian is the same as once an Olympic gold medalist always an Olympic gold medalist, silver medalist, bronze medalist, etc. Of course unless you’re found out to have cheated, disqualified and your medal has been ordered to be returned.
100%. Big pet peeve when someone calls an Olympian a “former Olympian”.
Thank you! Definitely a big pet peeve!!
LMAO worst coach ever. There’s plenty of reasons why he’s no longer coaching and was fired from Pitt.
Best news ever for the Ira and Brent. This guy is a terrible coach and anyone that moves to be in his program will be with Brent or Ira in a few months.
He sucks
IMG,s first coach was Jorge Jaramillo when he started the swimming program about 2015 when the first resident swimmers from Mexico and Russia. Brother Gabe was a tennis assistant.
Best wishes to John – A great competitor and fine coach.
Uhhh did they forget to do a background check?
What is this about again? I vaguely remember something about something
Pitt Alumni Activate
Type his name in the SwimSwam search box.
Florida doesn’t care about background checks it’s a cesspool down there