Background
Ned Skinner was born and raised in Worthington, Ohio. As a collegiate athlete, he swam primarily breastroke for Louisiana State University, and was a member of their 1988 SEC championship team. He also earned his PhD from Virginia Tech in 2004.
Coaching
Coach Skinner began his career in 1990 as the head coach of Central Connecticut University. In 1994 he took the head coaching job at William and Mary where he coached for 4 years. In 1998 he started coaching at Virginia Tech, and has been a mainstay in the athletic department ever since. In his time at Tech, Coach Skinner has been voted conference Coach of the Year 6 times, and has coached 11 international national champions, and sent 2 athletes to the Olympic Games. In addition to these accolades, Skinner has also coached 28 All- Americans, and been a part of 38 individual conference titles.
As a coach, Ned Skinner believes in an individualized approach to training, because every athlete is slightly different. He also makes technique a top priority. His philosophy is, “you have to train the way you want to compete”, which means racing is also common place in practice.
Personal
In his limited spare time, Coach Skinner enjoys spending time with his wife and their two children, as well as playing a round of golf whenever he can squeeze it in.
