Rob Clayton

Biography

Head coach Rob Clayton enters his 28th season as the Academy’s head men’s swimming coach in 2025-26. Clayton has led the Falcons to a 222-118-2 overall dual record in his 27 seasons. He owns five Conference Coach of the Year awards (MWC 2007, 2010 & WAC 2015, 2016, 2020) and has won three WAC Championships (2015, 2016, 2020). At USAFA, Clayton has coached men to 40 individual conference championships and eight relay conference championships. He has had four conference Swimmers of the Year, as well as three conference Newcomers of the Year. He has also had four swimmers achieve All-American status in Chris Knaute in 2006 (400 IM & 500 free), Michael Barnosky in 2016 (3rd in the 100 breast) and Zach Nelson (100 breast) and Wen Zhang (200 free) in 2020. 10 of his swimmers have competed in the Olympic Trials, including in 2008 when eight former Falcons participated in the Trials. In addition to the team’s success in the pool, Clayton’s swimmers have earned more than 180 academic all-conference honors and 27 MWC Scholar-Athlete selections, while 25 athletes have been designated Scholar All-Americans by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. During the 2024-25 season, Clayton guided the Falcons to an overall record of 8-2 and saw them finish third at the WAC Championships. While at the Championships, Clayton saw Camden Swigart earn the title of 400 IM Champion with an Academy record-breaking swim at 3:46.01. Under Clayton's tutelage, Tanner Wilson was named the WAC Me