Men's Swimming and Diving
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Phone:
- 719-333-1219
Anthony Boettcher is in his 13th season as the Air Force men’s swimming assistant coach in 2022-23. Boettcher is a lifelong resident of Colorado and brings over 30 years of experience as a club coach in the state.
Boettcher has helped Air Force claim three WAC Championships (2016, 2017, and 2020). He has assisted Clayton in coaching 28 individual conference champions and six conference relay champions. He has also helped three swimmers achieve All-American status in Michael Barnosky in 2016 (3rd in the 100 breast) and Zach Nelson (100 breast) and Wen Zhang (200 free) in 2020.He has coached three straight WAC Swimmers of the Year (Isaac Gwin in 2021 and Wen Zhang in 2022 and 2023).
At the 2020 WAC Championships, Boettcher helped lead the Falcons to an all-time dominant performance for the school's third WAC title in five years. The Falcons finished with a new modern WAC record 864 points and finished 172 points ahead of the second place team. Overall on the weekend, the Falcons won 12 of the 21 events. Air Force also set nine school records, while also putting 30 new times in the all-time Academy top-10. To cap it off, Clayton won WAC Coach of the Year, while Zach Nelson was named the WAC Swimmer of the Year and Wen Zhang the WAC Newcomer of the Year.
In 2016-17, Boettcher helped the Falcons earn two individual conference champions, two relay conference champion teams, four individual and four relay program records to highlight 28 swims that ranked in the top-10 all-time at Air Force. At the WAC Championships, 15 individuals were named to at least one All-WAC team and five were named to the All-WAC Academic Team.
In 2015-16, Boettcher helped coach Michael Barnosky to All-American honors and the highest finish ever at the NCAA Championships by an AFA Swimmer. Barnosky placed third in the 100 breaststroke with an Air Force, Service Academy and WAC record time of 51.89. He became the Falcons first All-American since Chris Knaute earned honorable mention honors in 2006 in the 400 IM and 500 free.
Boettcher came to the Academy from Falfins Swimming, a USA Swimming club team in the Colorado Springs area, and has coached seasonally in the Denver area as the head coach for the Wheat Ridge Piranhas (1982-1990), and as a year round USA Swimming Coach in the town of Evergreen.
As the head coach for the Evergreen swim team from 1990- 2005, Boettcher built what has become known as a small town powerhouse, posting consistent top 10 finishes at the Colorado State Junior Olympics. His athletes there won over 60 individual state titles, five relay titles, and set numerous state records. Athletes from the Evergreen Swim Team have competed at Zones, Sectionals, Junior and Senior Nationals, and Olympic Trials, with 20-plus athletes going on to compete at NCAA Division I schools, and one representing the USA at the World University Games in 2000.
While at Evergreen, Boettcher also coached the boy’s and girl’s high school teams at Evergreen High School. He began concentrating only on the boy’s team in 1995, and had unprecedented success there until leaving in 2005. His boys won 58 straight dual meets from 1995 through 2003, winning 9-of-11 Jefferson County titles in the process, and finished in the top three at the Boys 4A state meet numerous times. Many athletes achieved all-conference, all-state and All-American status. He retired as the winningest coach in the history of Jefferson County men’s swimming.
During his time at Evergreen, Boettcher was named the Colorado Swimming Age Group Coach of the Year in 1998, 2003 and 2005 for his work at the club level, and was the Colorado High School Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2002 as well. In 2003, the American Swim Coaches Association bestowed its Colorado Swim Coach of the Year on him. In addition, Boettcher won the Jefferson County High School Swim Coach of the Year 10 times, and the Jeffco League honored him with their 2001 Boy’s Coach of the Year Award for all sports.
Moving on to a new challenge in 2005, as the age group coach at Falfins Swimming in Colorado Springs, he continued to produce state champions and state record holders, and helped that club grow from 130 swimmers to over 200. Boettcher took the reins as the head coach in April, 2007 and remained there until his move to the Academy.
Boettcher has also invested 17 years as a volunteer for Colorado Swimming, Inc., and USA Swimming. Among his duties were stints as the Age Group Chair and Coaches Representative. He has attended the Western Zone Meet an unprecedented 13 times as a coach on the Colorado Staff, serving as head coach six of those times. He also served as Head Coach of the Colorado Swimming All Star team six times. In 1998 and again in 2003, USA Swimming gave Boettcher it’s Phillips 66 Outstanding Service Award for his role as a volunteer.
