Chris Fantz joined the Pioneers as head men’s and women’s swimming coach and aquatics director in September 2007. He left college coaching after the 2020-21 academic year and returned as an assistant coach ahead of the Pioneers 2022-23 season.
Since returning to the Pioneers coaching staff as an assistant, Fantz has worked with 14 student-athletes who have earned All-Conference accolades. At the 2024-25 Northwest Conference Championship Meet, junior Ezra Billings became the first student-athlete in school history to be named the NWC Men’s Swimmer of the Year after winning four events (three individual). Nine swimmers earned All-Conference honors at the 2024-25 NWC Championship Meet and the men’s team scored their most points since 1988.
Fantz, a two-time Northwest Conference Coach of the Year winner, has seen nearly his entire team record board changed under his watch. In 2017-18 alone, 13 records were reset including five individual marks by sophomore Sam Duran. Only eight records pre-date his tenure as coach. In addition to over 65 new school records, the Pios have had numerous NCAA provisional qualifying times with Fantz as head coach. The team has grown in numbers and depth as they build on their foundation of academic and athletic success.
Before joining the Pioneers, Chris served as an assistant coach at Puget Sound, where the women capped a run of eleven Northwest Conference titles and the men placed consistently in the top two. In his time coaching the Loggers, they sent multiple swimmers to the NCAA Division III National Championships.
While in Tacoma, Chris also coached with Tacoma Swim Club before becoming Head Age Group coach with Metro Aquatics where he oversaw all levels of development within the age group program.
During his swimming career, Chris was an All-American several times and school record holder in the butterfly and freestyle races while competing at Puget Sound from 1995-99. He finished as high as second at nationals in the 100 Butterfly and helped his team to two NAIA National Championships and two runner-up team finishes. He also anchored the conference record-setting 200 Freestyle Relay that stood for ten years.
Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Writing and his Master of Arts in Psychological and Cultural Studies. He still pursues his writing interests, including work published in American Swimming magazine and on SwimSwam.
In addition to leading the swimming programs at Lewis & Clark, Chris serves as Director of Aquatics and an instructor in Physical Education. He lives in Portland with his wife, Heather, and their young son and daughter.
