Saint Louis Billikens Athletics

In August 2001, Jim Halliburton brought lofty high school and club coaching credentials into his first college position as he became the head men’s and women’s swim coach at Saint Louis University. Halliburton left the head-coaching positions at Marquette High School and Rockwood Swim Club to take the reins of the Billiken program.
 
Halliburton’s understanding of high school and club swimming paid off immediately in recruiting for the Billikens. The first-time college coach went from mentoring SLU men’s and women’s teams that were winless in his first season to leading squads that went a combined 48-2 in 2006-07.
 
Before Halliburton’s arrival, the Billiken women’s squad was 2-40 from 1998-2001. Beginning in his fourth year, the women’s team went unbeaten in dual-meet competition for three straight seasons, capturing 60 consecutive victories from the 2004-05 campaign through the 2006-07 season.
 
Prior to the revitalization at SLU, Halliburton turned around the Rockwood Swim Club program and started the swim team at Marquette High School. His longest tenure was as head coach of the Rockwood Swim Club, where between 1985 and 2006 he turned a program of 38 swimmers into a national-championship team comprising more than 500 swimmers. Halliburton’s Marquette team won three Missouri state titles in his last four seasons.
 
Halliburton has coached two world-record holders and is one of only a few individuals who have coached at least one qualifier at each of the last 10 USA Olympic Trials. He has coached more than 100 Missouri high school state champions and more than 50 swimmers who have been ranked in the top 16 in the United States in their age group, including eight who achieved a No. 1 ranking. Halliburton has been named a U.S. National Team coach three times and Region 8 Coach of the Year a record seven times.
 
Now in his 22nd season at the helm, Halliburton has a SLU record of 582-188-1 (.756), ranking fourth on the NCAA Division I all-time victories list. The Billiken men posted a 274-90 ledger and the Billiken women were 308-98-1 in his first 21 years, and swimmers on both teams set school records in all 21 events.
 
In all, SLU swimmers have broken school records on 491 occasions, claimed 20 individual conference championships, produced five gold-medal relay teams and registered 28 NCAA “B” qualifying times under Halliburton’s guidance.
 
Halliburton was inducted into the Missouri Athletic Club Hall of Fame in 2009 for his age-group and high school coaching achievements. Also in 2009, he became the 11th swimmer inducted into the Ozark Swimming Hall of Fame for his competitive accomplishments. In 2018, Halliburton was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in Springfield for his college coaching achievements.
 
As a member of the Clayton Shaw Park swim team, Halliburton was ranked among the national top 10 in his age group in several events as a 10-, 12- and 14-year-old. He achieved his first No. 1 national ranking, in the 100 butterfly, as a 17-year-old.
 
Halliburton won eight state titles at Ladue High School, and he remains the only Missouri high school swimmer to go undefeated throughout his entire prep career. His 100-butterfly state record lasted 13 years, and his 200-freestyle state record stood for 19 years. Halliburton coached both swimmers who broke those marks.
 
At Indiana University, Halliburton was a four-time All-American and seven-time Big Ten champion. He broke Mark Spitz’s conference record in the 100 butterfly.
 
A former American record holder in the 100-meter butterfly, Halliburton twice achieved a world No. 1 ranking in the event. He was a member of the USA national swim team from 1978-82 and served as captain of the 1982 men’s team. Halliburton also has competed in U.S. Masters Swimming, winning 14 gold medals at the 2010 St. Louis Senior Olympics and setting several Masters records.
 
Halliburton graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education and psychology in 1981. He is a 1977 graduate of Ladue High School in St. Louis. Jim and his wife, Joanne, are the parents of daughter Dr. Kaleigh Adrian and son T.J., both former Billiken swimmers.