Neil Harper was named the eighth head coach in Arkansas Swimming and Diving program history on May 4, 2016.
A native of London, England, Harper enters his eleventh year in Fayetteville and 27th year as a head coach. Coach Harper holds an impressive success streak in both NCAA and Olympic Games swimming. In 27 years as a Head Coach his teams have always qualified and scored at the NCAA Championships. Likewise, since competing in 2 Olympics himself, he has recruited and coached at least one swimmer in every Olympics from Barcelona 1992 to Paris 2024. Collegiately he holds a 242-81 record as a women’s head coach and an all-time combined 354-126 record. Harper notched his 300th all-time win as a head coach on November 3rd, 2017 at the Arkansas Natatorium against Nebraska. His 350th dual meet win came last year vs SMU.
Last season, Coach Harper guided the Razorbacks to a 8-3 record in dual meets including wins against Power 4 opponents Miami, Rutgers, Vanderbilt and Florida State. The Razorbacks earned another Top 30 finish in the NCAA Championships with 3 Hogs securing All-America honors in 4 different events.
Harper has coached several Olympic Games finalists however his two most successful swimmers both won medals. Stephen Parry was recruited and coached by Harper at Florida State and went on to win a bronze medal in Athens 2004 in the 200m Butterfly behind Michael Phelps. In Tokyo 2021 Anna Hopkin won a gold medal anchoring the Great Britain 400m Mixed Medley Relay. Hopkin registered a blazing 52.00 split in her anchor leg of the relay, securing the Gold medal for the British team in 3:37.58 and a new World Record.
During his coaching career, Harper has worked with over 200 student-athletes, both individual and relay swimmers, who have earned NCAA All-America honors.
During the 2015-16 season, Harper led Nevada to the highest finish of a non-Power Five team and a Top 20 place at the NCAA Championships. He guided the Wolf Pack to a 7-0 overall record in the regular season and won the first Mountain West team title in program history during his first season.
Prior to Nevada, Harper served as the program director and head coach of the Aiken Augusta Swim League in Augusta, Georgia (2013-15), head coach at Florida State (1999-2013), head women’s coach at Ohio State (1997-99), assistant coach at Florida State (1994-97) and assistant coach at his alma mater LSU (1988-94).
Harper’s coaching experience extends internationally. He has coached a swimmer at every Olympics since Barcelona 1992. He has coached many swimmers at 8 World Championships, 4 Commonwealth Games as well as Pan Pac, Pan Am and European Championships.
In 14 seasons as Florida State’s head men’s and women’s swimming coach, Harper’s student-athletes tallied 175 All-ACC selections and 98 individual and relay conference titles. He posted a 159-38 (.807) record with the women’s team and went 112-45 (.713) with the men’s team. Harper was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
Harper’s head coaching career began with Ohio State in 1997, where he spent two seasons as the Buckeyes’ head women’s coach. He posted a 15-12 mark and helped qualify six student-athletes for the NCAA Championships.
Before his arrival in Columbus, Ohio, Harper served as the top assistant at Florida State from 1994-97. One of his main duties was to coordinate the Seminoles’ recruiting efforts. During that time, Florida State produced numerous All-Americans, including the Seminoles’ first NCAA champion. Harper was also in charge of the team’s strength and conditioning while working with the stroke and individual medley swimmers. In addition, he helped produce the program’s first female All-Americans in six years.
Upon graduation from LSU, Harper began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach for the Tigers from 1988-94. He helped the Tiger swimmers earn 21 NCAA All-America honors and seven SEC titles. During the 1991 season, both the men and women posted one of their best finishes at the NCAA Championship as both came away with a 14th place showing.
As a student-athlete at LSU, Harper was a seven-time All-American, four-time SEC Champion and team captain in 1988 when LSU won it’s only SEC team title. He also competed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games on the Great Britain National Team where he was a member of the 400-meter Medley Relay team that finished sixth at the 1984 games and fourth in the 1988 games.
Harper and his wife, Paige, who was also an All-American and SEC champion swimmer at LSU, have two daughters, Katherine and Kelly.
