John Lawson Hargis (born July 3, 1975) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and college swimming coach.

Hargis represented the United States at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. 4×100-meter medley relay team.

After graduating high school Hargis decided to have a collegiate swimming career and chose to attend Auburn University.

[1] After Hargis' swimming career ended, he married his wife, Lauren and they have two sons and a daughter John, Nathan, and Faith.

He was selected as one of Arkansas's 100 Greatest Athletes, three-time Southeastern Conference 100-yard butterfly champion, and a 12-time college All-American.

Hargis swam a time of 53.34 in the 100-meter butterfly in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100-meter medley relay earning him a gold medal.

[6] In July 2008, Hargis left his Arkansas Dolphins club team to go back to Penn State University where he served as the head coach for five years from 2008 to 2013.