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During the last nine years, the Florida State swimming and diving program has seen unprecedented success. With 73 ACC Champions and 35 NCAA All-American honors and one National Champion in that time span, head coach Neil Harper has turned the Seminoles into one of the nation's top programs.
Harper followed up his 2006 ACC Women's Coach of the Year award in 2007 with another Coach of the Year nod, this time on the men's side. After four consecutive second place finishes, the FSU men finally broke through in 2007 with their first men's ACC Championship. The men were lead by meet MVP Kyle Young and Jarryd Botha who won two events apiece. At the 2007 NCAA Championships, the men captured 17th place, including four All-American honors led by National Champion diver Terry Horner.
On the women's side, the Seminoles followed up their 2006 ACC Championship with a second place finish including eight event victories. FSU went on to finish 17th at the NCAA Championships which included an All-American performance from senior backstoker Romy Altmann. The women finished seventh in the CSCAA poll, their highest finish ever.
Florida State athletes are a regular sight on top of the medal stand at the ACC Championships under Harper's tutelage. Over the last seven years, the women's team has won 44 individual and relay titles while the men have amassed 29. The 16 combined championships in 2007 were the most during Harper's tenure. Only Florida State and Virginia have produced an individual men's champion in each of the last seven years and the Seminoles are the only ones with at least one gold medal winner since 1992. FSU, UVA and North Carolina have all produced one or more women's champions in the last seven seasons.
As to be expected, the Tribe has been rewriting the school's record books. Twenty-one of the women's 24 school marks have fallen during Harper's time at FSU, including 14 marks that were reset or broken in the last two years. On the men's side, 20 records have fallen during Harper's watch.
Not only are more of the Florida State records held by Harper`s student-athletes, but the all-time top ten contains more of his athletes than any other coach in the program's history. Within the women's lists, 102 of the 130 best times in Seminole lore have been set during Harper's eight years, including either the number one or two spots in all but one event. The men's team has put its name down 63 times since Harper's arrival in 1999.
Over the last five seasons, Florida State has built itself into one of the best dual meet teams in the country. Both teams have finished the year ranked in the final CSCAA Top 25 poll in six of Harper's seven seasons.
During Harper's tenure, the women have a 93-22 record with the .800 winning percentage ranking him third in conference history. His 68-26 (.723) mark on the men's side is second in school history and his winning percentage is first among active ACC coaches. Since the 2001-02 season, the women have won at least nine meets and have only one loss outside the Top 25. The men have produced at least nine wins per season in all but one season during that same time frame with three losses beyond the Top 25.
Florida State swimmers and divers excel in the classroom just as well as they do in the pool. Since 2000, the Seminoles have had at least 20 student-athletes on the ACC Honor Roll each year, including a program-high 40 in 2007.
Harper's acumen in the pool extends internationally as he has coached at the biggest international competitions in the last six years. During the summer of 2004, he was on deck for his fourth Olympic Games as he traveled to Athens, Greece, to coach Wickus Nienaber as the head man for the Swaziland contingency. Nienaber was just one of five of Harper's pupils competing in the Olympics as Chris Vythoulkas swam for the Bahamas, Golda Marcus carried the El Salvador flag and Julio Santos represented Ecuador.
The biggest thrill for Harper at the 2004 Olympics was watching one of his former pupils on the medal stand. Stephen Parry - a stand out for the Seminoles while Harper was an assistant - brought home the bronze medal in the 200-meter butterfly after posting the fastest time during the semifinals.
In 2000, Harper was a member of the South African Olympic coaching staff in Sydney, Australia. The following year he traveled to Fukuoka, Japan to coach Nienaber in the FINA World Championships. During the summer of 2002, he mentored Nienaber at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, where he was joined by former Seminole All-Americans Stephen Parry and Brett Petersen, as well as Vythoulkas. During the summer of 2003, he returned to the FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain with Nienaber.
In May of 1999, Harper returned for his second stint in Tallahassee after two years as the women's head coach at Ohio State. In two seasons with the Buckeyes, Harper's team posted a 15-12 mark while qualifying six athletes for the NCAA Championships. In the classroom, Ohio State excelled just as well as both of his teams received NCAA All-Academic selections. Within the conference, the Buckeyes received more than 20 Academic All-Big Ten Conference honors during his two seasons.
From 1994-97, Harper served as the top assistant at Florida State under Don Gibb. One of his main duties was to coordinate the Seminoles' recruiting efforts. His work with the recruiting speaks for itself as during that time Florida State produced numerous All-Americans, including FSU's first NCAA champion, Parry, in the 200 butterfly. As a top aide, Harper was also in charge of the team's strength and conditioning, while working with the stroke and individual medley swimmers. His work in the pool produced the school's first female All-Americans in six years as former assistant coach Anne Blachford (200 IM), Helen Jepson (200 fly) and Samantha White (100 breast) all enjoyed NCAA success.
A 1990 graduate of Louisiana State University, Harper served as an assistant at his alma mater following graduation up until his first appointment with the Seminoles. During his six years in Baton Rouge, LA, he helped Tiger swimmers earn 21 NCAA All-America honors and seven Southeastern Conference titles. During the 1991 season, both the men and women posted one of their best finishes at the NCAA meet as both came away with a 14th-place showing.
As a competitor, Harper is one of the top swimmers in LSU history. He first made his name in the SEC when he won the 100-yard backstroke at the 1986 meet. Throughout his career, Harper collected four SEC titles while earning seven NCAA All-America awards. During his final year, LSU won it's only SEC Team Championship and finished sixth at the NCAA championships, the highest finish in school history. He still ranks on the Tigers' all-time top ten in four different categories.
The London native represented Great Britain in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics in the 100 and 200-meter backstroke as well as a member of the 400-meter medley relay with sixth and fourth-place finishes respectively.
The 42-year-old Harper is married to the former Paige Busch, who was also an All-American and SEC champion in the 100-yard breaststroke at LSU. The couple has two daughters, Katherine (13) and Kelly (11).
HARPER'S COACHING RESUME:
1999-present: Head Coach, Florida State University
1997-99: Head Women's Coach, Ohio State University
1994-97: Assistant Coach, Florida State University
1988-94: Assistant Coach, Louisiana State University
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE:
2004: Swaziland Olympic Games Team (Athens, Greece)
2003: Swaziland FINA World Championship Team (Barcelona, Spain)
2002: Commonwealth Games (Manchester, England)
2001: Swaziland FINA World Championships Team (Fukuoka, Japan)
2000: South African Olympic Games Team (Sydney, Australia)
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