John "Jonty" Alexander Skinner (born 15 February 1954) is a former Hall of Fame South African competition swimmer and world record-holder, who for over forty years served as an American club and college swimming coach primarily at his alma mater, the University of Alabama before retiring as a coach in 2020.

Skinner moved to the United States in 1974,[3] largely to attend the University of Alabama, where he was a member of the accomplished Alabama Crimson Tide swimming and diving team, and competed as part of the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference.

[2] Skinner graduated Alabama in 1978 with a degree in Communications and public relations, and by 1976, in his Junior year was hoping to apply for U.S.

[6] For the upcoming 1976 Montreal Olympics, many sports analysts considered Skinner second in line for a gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle.

[2] After the 1976 Olympics, at the August, 1976 United States Summer Swimming Championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, though barely qualifying in the finals, Skinner broke Jim Montgomery's 20-day-old world record in the 100-metre freestyle by 0.55 seconds beating home the recent Olympic Champion Montgomery and Joe Bottom who won silver in Montreal.

His record stood until 3 April 1981 when Rowdy Gaines swam the distance in 49.36 seconds in Texas.

[9] In 1975, the year he set the American 100-yard record at the NCAA championships, Skinner was one of the first inductees into the University of Alabama Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame, which had been established by his mentor and Alabama college coach Don Gambril.