Doak Finch Joins Air Force Men’s Staff As Associate Head Coach

After finishing the 2022-2023 season as Duke’s interim head coach, Doak Finch has joined the Air Force men’s coaching staff as an associate head coach for the 2023-2024 season.

Air Force men’s head coach Rob Clayton announced the hire saying,  “I’m really excited to welcome Doak to the coaching staff. He brings a wealth of experience. I’ve known Doak for several decades, as his brother swam at the Air Force Academy my first years here. Doak is one of the bright minds in college swimming”.

Finch most recently spent time at Duke. Finch joined the Duke coaching staff in 2016 as an assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach in 2017.

This past season, Finch was appointed as Duke’s interim head coach in December for the remainder of the 2022-2023 season after head coach Dan Collela died at the beginning of December from complications with prostate cancer. While at Duke, Finch primarily worked with sprint and distance athletes.

Prior to his time at Duke, Finch was an assistant coach at Penn State from 2013-2016. His coaching career began at his alma mater, Virginia. He was a coach with the Cavaliers from 2000-2013.

Finch graduated from Virginia in 2000 with a degree in economics. As an athlete at Virginia, Finch helped contribute to ACC team titles in both 1999 and 2000. In 1999, Finch represented the US at the World University Games. There he finished sixth in the 200 butterfly. A year later, Finch finished seventh in the 200 fly at US Olympic Trials.

This past season, the Air Force men finished fifth at the Western Athletic Conference Championships. Rising senior Wen Zhang qualified for the 2023 NCAA Championships. Zhang finished 15th in the 200 free, scoring 2 points for the team finishing 37th overall.