Jonas Persson

Head Coach

Jonas Persson

On May 3, 2022, Jonas Persson was named head coach of the Utah men's and women's swimming and diving program after spending the previous three seasons as the Utes' associate head coach.

During his first season heading up the Utah swim and dive program, Persson oversaw a men's and women's teams that both posted a winning records in dual meets, broke four program records, posted 40 new top 10 times in program history and increased the team's point total at the Pac-12 Men's and Women's Championships. The Utes also earned two medals on the swimming side at the Pac-12 Championships and swimmers Evan VanBrocklin and Summer Stanfield were named Pac-12 Swimmers of the Week during the the 2022-23 season.

Persson also saw one of his pupils achieve All-American status, as Andrei Ungur broke the program record in the 100 backstroke and earned a fifth-place finish in the A Final to garner All-American status. Ungur is only the fourth Ute in program history to accomplish that feat in the 100 back.

The program also continued to excel academically under Persson's watch. Eight of his student-athletes were named academic all-district by the College Sports Communicators, matching the highest total of any squad in the nation, and 13 Utes were chosen as Scholar All-Americans by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America.

Persson served as the Utes' interim head coach during the postseason portion of Utah's 2022 schedule and was instrumental in guiding the men's swimming team to break four school records at the NCAA Championships. Two of those records (200 and 400 medley relay) were set just two weeks earlier at the Pac-12 Championships along with a new school record in the 100 breast. At the Pac-12 Championships, Persson coached 10 Utes on both the men's and women's teams that posted all-time top-10 performances at Utah.

Persson was the head sprint coach at Utah for five seasons, helping student-athletes break every men's team record and 17 women's team marks, in addition to 55 top-10 all-time performances. He coached seven swimmers that qualified for the NCAA Championships and 11 that ranked in the top-50 nationally.

In 2020-21, Persson saw sprinter Cooper DeRyk become a second-team All-American in the 50 free to highlight the season. He also helped guide the 200 medley relay team of Andrew Britton, DeRyk, Andrei Ungur and Finn O'Haimhirgin to a second-team All-American performance at the 2021 NCAA Championships. The group broke the school record, which they had already done in the season, with a school-best time of 1:24.15 to finish 15th at nationals.

Persson was influential in helping Nick Soedel become the first Ute ever to medal at the Pac-12 Championships (bronze in 2013) and earn Utah's second individual championship with his first-place finish in the 100 free (2014) where he garnered All-American honors. Soedel also placed fifth in the 100 freestyle and 14th in the 50 freestyle at the 2015 NCAA Championships, earning him honorable mention All-American honors.

Persson coached All-American Traycie Swartz to an 11th-place finish in the 100 freestyle at the 2014 NCAA Championships. Swartz was a three-time Pac-12 championship finalist and held records in the women's 50 and 100 freestyle, and the 100 backstroke. Persson also had a hand in helping Utah earn a first Pac-12 Champion by recruiting Bence Kiraly, who won the 1,650 freestyle in 2014.

At Toledo, Persson coached the Rockets to a breakout 2017-18 season. Toledo's individual swimmers appeared on the conference top-10 list 11 times, and Toledo's relay teams finished in the top-four on four occasions. Toledo finished sixth at the MAC Championships with 254 points, a 14-point improvement over the previous year and the program's best finish in five years. Led by a core of freshmen and sophomores, 91 percent of Toledo's points at the tournament came from underclassmen. The Rockets also celebrated sophomore Izzy Jones' second-team All-MAC selection, recorded eight new entries into the program's all-time top-10 list, and set nine personal records at the MAC championship meet.

Following the MAC championship meet, seven of Persson's student-athletes qualified for the 2018 CSCAA National Invitational, where senior Allison Dicke set two personal bests and freshman Alida Ramden earned one. Eight Toledo swimmers earned NCAA B-Cuts, 71 set new personal-best times, and 25 qualified for UT's all-time top-10 list during the 2017-18 season. In the classroom, Toledo was a CSCAA Scholar All-America Team for six consecutive semesters, peaking this past spring with a 3.69 GPA

In his first season with the Rockets in 2016, Persson ushered in a new era, helping Jessica Avery and Izzy Jones earn All-MAC honors. At the Mid-American Conference Championships, 42 of the 56 Rockets' swims were season-bests and 17 were career-best times.

A native of Sweden, Persson has competed at the highest levels of international swimming, including the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he was a member of his native country's fifth-place 4x100 free relay team, finished 11th in the 4x100 medley relay, and 13th in the 100 freestyle. Persson was a part of the European champion 4x100 free relay in 2008 and the bronze medalist squad in 2010. He also was a finalist at the 2005 World Championships in the 4x100 free relay. He remains a Swedish record-holder and the No. 2 sprint freestyler in the history of Sweden. He won 16 Swedish national championships.

During his collegiate career, Persson set seven school records at the University of Tennessee, where he was a 13-time All-American and team captain for the Volunteers.

In the classroom, Persson obtained a Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Sports Studies and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Tennessee. He served as a graduate assistant under Head Coach John Trembley, the 2011 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year. Persson was an Academic All-American and SEC Academic Honor Roll selection in 2007 and 2008. Persson helped expand Tennessee's international recruiting network by communicating with student-athletes, coaches and parents in 16 different countries.

Persson grew up in Malmo, Sweden where he attended St. Petri High School. He married his wife Darby in the summer of 2015 and they welcomed their first child, Novali Mae, to the family in June 2018.