Background
Skinner was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and graduated from Selborne College in East London, South Africa.
Skinner was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and graduated from Selborne College in East London, South Africa.
He was also voted as Alabama"s Athlete of the Year. In 1976, he weighed 185 pounds and stood 6 feet, 5 inches and had a good chance of taking the gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, however at the time South Africa was still banned from the Olympics hence making Skinner ineligible to compete. 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 Honor Swimmer. Skinner began his coaching career in 1978 when appointed assistant coach of University of Alabama"s swim team
He served as head coach until 1988. He returned to the University of Alabama in 1988 as assistant head coach, and then took over the reins as the head swimming and diving coach of the men"s and women"s teams in 1990.
From 1994 to 2000 Skinner served as United States of America Swimming"s resident team coach, which involved coaching some of the nation"s top swimmers at the elite national and international level
From 2000 to 2008 Skinner served as United States of America Swimming"s Director of National Team Technical Support, which involves coordinating all of the testing, tracking and assessment of the national team athletes. He currently operates Athletic Intelligence Consulting and is an UpMyGame coach. In May 2012 he rejoined the University of Alabama swimming and diving team as an assistant coach.
He decided to move to the United States and attend the University of Alabama, where he was a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (National Collegiate Athletic Association) and Southeastern Conference (Securities and Exchange Commission) competition.