-
- Title:
- Head Coach
-
- Email:
- dheinbuc@uottawa.ca
Bio
Dave Heinbuch was named the Head Coach of the Gee-Gees swimming program in advance of the 2013-14 varsity season. The native of Kitchener, Ont. was a 1976 Canadian Olympian and has been a professional swim coach for over forty years.
Heinbuch began his coaching career at the University of Waterloo in 1978-79 as an assistant coach with the CIS Championship-winning men’s team. He took over as head coach in 1979 and guided the men's team to a national championship and over the next eight seasons at Waterloo he was twice named the OUA Coach of the Year.
In 1989 Heinbuch relocated to the Ottawa-Gatineau swimming community and has served as head coach at the Nepean-Kanata Barracudas and as assistant coach with the Gatineau Swim Club.
The Gee-Gees have won 37 medals at nationals while Dave has been head coach, which represents over half of the program's historical total. He guided the teams to best-ever placings at the 2020 U SPORTS nationals where the men finished fifth and the women finished sixth. In 2023, the men's team captured the first team medal at nationals, finishing in third place in the team standings with 795 points. Heinbuch was named the U SPORTS Men's Coach of the Year in 2023.
In addition to finishing 15th in the 200 metre breaststroke at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Heinbuch captured a silver medal at the 1975 Pan American Games. As a student leading up to his international career, Heinbuch swam for the Simon Fraser University Clan. He was then a member of the National Championship winning teams at the University of Waterloo in 1976-77 and 1977-78, capturing nine medals. He was inducted into the University of Waterloo Warriors Hall of Fame in 1991.
Awards:
2022-23 U SPORTS Coach of the Year
2017-18 OUA Coach of the Year
1988-89 OWIAA Coach of the Year
1986-87 OUAA Water Polo Coach of the Year
1982-83 OUAA Coach of the Year
Year-By-Year Gee-Gees Medal Results (Conference/National):
2013-14: 14/2
2014-15: 17/1
2015-16: 7/2
2016-17: 9/3
2017-18: 14/5
2018-19: 22/6
2019-20: 30/8
2021-22: 37/2
2022-23: 32/5
2023-24: 32/3