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Inducted 1998   After
completing his Bachelor of Arts degree in education at Syracuse University
in 1970, John received his Masters of Arts in education. IN 1975,
John finished his education doctorate at Syracuse. By 1978 he had
retired from the United States Army as a Captain.
For five seasons, John was the head coach of the Lake Forest College men's and women's swimming and diving teams. During his tenure, he coached 26 All-American swimmers and divers and had 28 athletes qualify for nationals. The women's team in 1983-84 captured a conference championship during Leonard's final season. While at Lake Forest, John also served as aquatics director and coached with the Lake Forest Swim Club. Five of his swimmers were named to the USA National team. Following his coaching career at Lake Forest College, John became the executive director of the American Swimming Coaches Association in 1985. During his tenure at ASCA, he developed the national certification program for coaches and created SWIMAMERICA, a nationwide program that teaches between 800,000 and a million young children to swim each year. A level 5 USS swim coach, John has guided athletes on seven USA National swimming teams. He has been extensively involved with the USA International swimming program, serving as a team leader for the 1987 World University Games in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, as well as the team leader for the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba. He is considered to be an international leader in the field of coaching education and coaching associations. John has authored three books and edited two others in addition to writing hundreds of articles for swimming and sports publications. He has also presented over 1,000 lectures in25 different nations. John has dedicated himself to cleansing the Olympic sports world of performance enhancing drugs. In 1990, he was appointed Executive Director of the World Swimming Association and serves as the Chairman of the Anti-Doping Committee. In 1995 he received the Athletes Appreciation Award for US Swimming for his instrumental role in the anti-doping campaign.
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