Ave Maria University hired two-time Olympian Giordan Harris as the new head coach of the Gyrene swimming program in March 2023. Harris coached Ave Maria during the 2023-24 season, and is now in his third season.
In Harris' first season at Ave Maria, the Olympian guided five Gyrenes to the NAIA National Championships, with one - Gabby Darakchieva - becoming AMU's first-ever swimming All-American.
In his second season, Harris was named the Sun Conference Women's Swimming Coach of the Year at the conference championships. He coached Darakchieva to the first ever first place finish in a conference championship in program history. Harris and the Gyrenes took home bronze as well in the men's 4x200 freestyle relay. At the national level, Harris led four Gyrenes to NAIA National Championships.
Harris came to Ave Maria not only as an accomplished swimmer, but as a successful coach at both the NCAA and junior college levels.
Most recently, Harris was the head coach at Iowa Lakes Community College. During his last season in Estherville, Harris coached the program’s first-ever national champion on the women’s team in two different events, while coaching an NJCAA silver medalist and two NJCAA Bronze Medalists.  He also led the Lakers' men's team to a top-five finish in the junior college national championships. His Iowa Lakes swimmers broke 26 school records, across 16 different events. The swimmers also excelled in the classroom, as six different Iowa Lakes swimmers were named NJCAA Academic All-Americans at the 2022 NJCAA National Championships, and 10 different swimmers were named NJCAA Academic All-Americans at the 2023 NJCAA Championship.
Before taking over the program at Iowa Lakes, Harris was the acting head coach at NCAA Division I Saint Louis University. During the 2020-21 season, the Billikens set two school records, and one swimmer earned a bronze medal at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships.
He also spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Maryville University in Saint Louis, helping his alma mater to some of its best seasons in school history, and worked during the 2015-16 season as an assistant coach at Lincoln College.
Before entering the coaching world, Harris was an accomplished swimmer, both at the collegiate and international levels. Harris swam at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, where he represented his home nation of the Marshall Islands. Harris was a sprinter during his competitive days, with both of his Olympic appearances coming in the 50-meter freestyle.Â
Collegiately, Harris was a junior college All-American at Iowa Lakes, earning two podium finishes. He also was a conference finalist and a team captain at Maryville, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Cyber Security with a minor in Business Administration.
