Fagan is a 16-year member of USA Swimming and has an extensive background that includes several state appearances and Junior National championships.  Prior to Gilmour, he served as the head age group coach at Akron Firestone High School and with the Firestone Akron Swim Team (FAST) where he coached multiple state champions, USA Swimming sectional champs and Junior and Senior National qualifiers. He previously coached at Shaker Schools (1995-97) where his boys team placed in the top three in the state in consecutive seasons (1995, 1996). While coaching with the Shaker Sharks, the team had two consecutive top three finishes at Junior Nationals (1996, 1997). Additionally, he coached for Lake Erie Silver Dolphins (LESD) winning Junior Nationals in 2000.

Fagan has also had success himself as a swimmer.  When he attended Hawken School, he won two individual state championships in the 200-meter freestyle in 1988 and 1989. The team won state championships those same years, and also earned state runner-up honors in 1987. Fagan continued his athletic career at the University of Tennessee as a freshman before transferring to the University of Cincinnati. While with the Bearcats, he was an individual conference champion in the 200 freestyle in 1993 and 1994, while the team earned conference championships in 1992 and 1993. He also swam for the Lake Erie Dolphins where he was a qualifier for the Junior and Senior Nationals and the US Open.