Gustavus Adolphus College

Jon Carlson is in his 36th season as the head coach of the Gustavus Gustavus Adolphus College men's and women’s swimming and diving teams and the women’s tennis team in 2025-26. Under Carlson’s direction, both the swimming and tennis programs have emerged as a conference power and national contender. 

In the pool, Jon’s teams have won a combined 25 MIAC championships. The Gustie men, winners of the last six titles, recorded team finishes at the NCAA Championships for 16 consecutive years between 1996 and 2011. The team posted its highest finish in 2005, taking fifth. Carlson has coached 129 male swimmers who have earned 783 All-Conference honors and 28 who have earned 93 All-America honors in 11 individual events and 17 relays. He was also named MIAC Men's Coach of the Year in 2004, 2005, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

The women’s swimming & diving program has claimed 12 MIAC championships, including last year’s title at the 2025 meet. The Gustie women recorded team finishes at the NCAA Championships 18 times during Carlson’s tenure, most recently taking 22nd in the 2023 season. The team’s highest finish came in 2014, taking seventh. Carlson has coached 105 All-Conference female swimmers and 24 individuals who have earned 74 All-America honors. Carlson has coached every women's swimming & diving All-American in program history. He was also named MIAC Women's Swimming Coach of the Year in 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2025.

Carlson, who was a tennis athlete himself while at Gustavus, took over the women’s tennis program in 1990, and led the team to an NCAA Championship in his first season. Carlson’s tennis teams have finished in the top four at the NCAA championships five other times, including second in 1991 and 1993, third in 1999, and fourth in 1992 and 1994.

Gustavus has won MIAC women’s tennis titles 25 times in Carlson’s 35 seasons, and earned 25 NCAA tournament appearances. Carlson, the winningest coach in NCAA Division III women’s tennis, has earned MIAC Coach of the Year honors 11 times (1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2022 and 2025), and was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III Coach of the Year in 1994 and 2002. 

In the 2024-25 season, Carlson led the Gusties back to the conference title sweep for the first time in seven years, never dropping a doubles match against a MIAC opponent at any position. The all-time winningest coach in Division III tennis history, Carlson eclipsed victory 700, becoming the first women's coach to reach the milestone all at the DIII level. He ranks sixth among all collegiate women's tennis coaches for wins in NCAA history, and is the third-winningest active coach in all divisions of collegiate tennis behind only North Carolina's Brian Kalbas and Lynn's Mike Perez. 

His regular season title marked the 29th time the Gusties have gone without a loss in the MIAC and the 25th for Carlson, who earned his 50th regular season championship. Carlson, who has won 25 with the Gustavus swimming & diving teams (13 men, 12 women), ranks second among MIAC coaches all-time for the most championships won, and first among both active MIAC coaches and all-time coaches at current institutions.

During the span of his tenure, Carlson has coached 68 tennis athletes to 165 All-Conference honors and 20 individuals to 35 All-America honors, including two-time NCAA Division III Doubles Champions Tara Houlihan and Lyndsey Palen (2005, 2006).

Prior to his coaching career at Gustavus, Carlson served as a supervisor at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Fla. from 1988-89. Outside of his coaching duties, Carlson is active in the tennis community, serving as a member of the NCAA National Championship Committee, the ITA National Awards Chair, and on several other ITA regional committees.

Jon graduated from Gustavus in 1988 with a degree in physical education, and lives in Saint Peter with his wife, Heidi '93. They have three daughters, Calleigh '17, Grace '19, and Josie '22. Carlson has made coaching a family affair, as both Heidi and Calleigh serves as assistants for the Gustavus women's tennis team, while Grace is the head swimming & diving coach at Ripon College in Wisconsin.