John Alexander Skinner was born in Mowbray, Cape Town on 15th February 1954 and matriculated from
Selborne College in East London. His father was well-known local coach Doug Skinner.
His early swimming efforts were concentrated on surf lifesaving, where he was soon to become a dominant figure. After winning his Springbok colours on the 1971 tour to Australia and New Zealand, he made an almost complete clean sweep of titles at the 1972 SA
Surf lifesaving Championships.
That year also showed the first sign of things to come when he finished second in the 100m freestyle at the
1972 Port Elizabeth nationals. On a Springbok swimming tour to Germany, he beat a world-class field in a time of 52,99, which placed him 5th in the world rankings.
At the
1973 SA nationals in Bulawayo, he won the 100-metre freestyle event and backed that up by winning the event again at the 1974 National Championships. He was awarded the title of South Africa Athlete of the Year and was also awarded Springbok Colours in Swimming and Life Saving.
Accepting a scholarship to swim at the University of Alabama, Jonty left for the USA after winning the 100m freestyle at the
1974 Bloemfontein nationals. At the 1975 Division I NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships he won the 100 yards freestyle in an American record time of 43,92 (the record is 43,15 in 2014) and was voted Alabama's most valuable swimmer in 1975, 1976, and 1977. He was also voted as Alabama's Athlete of the Year.
During the university summer breaks, Jonty swam with coach Bill Palmer at the Central Jersey Aquatic Club in Asbury Park, which club he was representing at the AAU nationals in 1976.
In 1976, he weighed 185 pounds and stood 6'5", and had a good chance of taking the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle at the
1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Unfortunately,
South Africans were banned from the Olympics - hence making Skinner ineligible to compete.
However, after the completion of the Olympics, at the 1976 United States, Summer National Swimming Championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and after just qualifying for the final, Skinner broke Jim Montgomery's 20-day old world record in the 100 meter freestyle by 0.55 seconds beating home the Olympic champion 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. In addition to his world record, he set three American records in the 100 yards freestyle.
In 1985, he was recognized by the swimming world when he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honour Swimmer.
After his swimming career ended, Jonty followed in his father's footsteps and became a swim coach and consultant to various countries - including being a US Olympic coach.
From 1981-1988, Skinner served as head coach at the San Jose Aquatic club, where he won five junior national championship team titles and one national championship team title.
From 1994-2000 Skinner served as USA Swimming’s Resident Team Coach, which involved coaching some of the nation’s top swimmers at the elite national and international level.
Prior to his arrival at USA Swimming, Skinner served as head coach of the men’s and women’s swimming teams at the University of Alabama. Under Skinner’s guidance, both the men’s and women’s swimming programs finished in the top 10 nationally in 1994. That same year Skinner won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Women’s Coach of the Year award.
