Pittsburgh, Pa. – Duquesne swimming and diving head coach
David Sheets enters the 2026-27 season as one of the nation's 50 longest-tenured head coaches at a single institution.
A three-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, Sheets begins his 26th season at the helm after building one of the conference's premier programs. Under his guidance, Duquesne captured back-to-back Atlantic 10 Championships in 2018 and 2019 and has finished among the top four at the conference championships in each of the last 12 seasons. That stretch includes four runner-up finishes (2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022) and consecutive third-place finishes in 2025 and 2026.
Success under Sheets has extended well beyond the pool. Duquesne has earned College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Team honors for more than a decade, consistently ranking among the nation's top academic programs. During the Spring 2026 semester, the Dukes posted a 3.85 team GPA among 25 student-athletes, tying for the fourth-highest mark in the country. The program was equally impressive in the fall, recording a 3.81 GPA that tied for the second-highest among all NCAA Division I men's and women's swimming and diving programs.
Since taking over the program, Sheets has transformed Duquesne into a perennial championship contender. His teams have produced 52 individual Atlantic 10 champions, 19 conference champion relay teams and 32 CSCAA All-America Honorable Mention selections. He has also coached numerous standout student-athletes, including CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-American Hanna Everhart.
Sheets also guided Duquesne's men's swimming and diving program for seven seasons (2004-10), where he continued to elevate the program's national profile. During that span, his swimmers achieved 30 NCAA Division I "B" qualifying standards, earned nine CollegeSwimming.com All-America Honorable Mention selections and captured 57 Atlantic 10 individual championships. His athletes also claimed seven conference records, two Atlantic 10 Championship Outstanding Male Performer awards, two Atlantic 10 Championship Rookie Female Performer honors, one Atlantic 10 Championship Rookie Male Performer award and three Atlantic 10 Swimming Student-Athlete of the Year honors. In 2009-10, the men's team finished the season ranked among the nation's Top 25 Mid-Major programs.
Across both programs, every school record has been broken during Sheets' tenure, while academic excellence has remained a hallmark. The men's or women's team has consistently ranked among the nation's top programs for team GPA, regularly placing in the top 15 nationally.
In September, Sheets was named to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's (PSAC) "75 Greatest Male Athletes" list as part of the conference's 75th anniversary celebration. In a remarkable family achievement, his wife, Christina Sheets, was also recognized on the PSAC's "75 Greatest Female Athletes" list.
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