Women's Swimming and Diving
- Title:
- Diving Coach
- Email:
- Stan.Curnow@afacademy.af.edu
- Phone:
- 719-333-2331
Stan Curnow completed his 31st season with the Falcons as head men's and women's diving coach in 2022-23, the longest tenure in Academy history for a diving coach.
In those 31 years, Curnow has continued Air Force's proud tradition in diving. Curnow has been named coach of the year six different times in two different conferences.
Curnow, while overseeing the women's team, was first named the Mountain West Conference's Diving Coach of the Year in 2001 before repeating the same feat in 2002 and again in 2006.
Coaching the men in the Western Athletic Conference, Curnow received yearly honors each year from 2014-16. Curnow has helped develop a conference Diver of the Year four times, first coming in the Mountain West. Sarah Law was dubbed Mountain West's top diver in 2001 and again in 2002, while Nathanael Zillweger received such honors in 2015 and 2016.
Curnow has been instrumental in guiding 12 individual conference titles on the diving board. On the women's side, Sarah Law won the Mountain West one-meter and platform dives in 2001, while Jessica Williams won the Mountain West platform crown in 2003. Williams' 418.05 in the platform dive in 2003 remains the all-time Mountain West record in the event, as does Law's 465.13 in the one-meter set in 2001.
On the men's side, Brady Lindburg won was crowned WAC champion on the platform in 2006 and 2007 before Kyle Van Valkenburg carried the same torch in 2008 and 2009. Nathanael Zillweger won the WAC one-meter title three-consecutive season from 2014-16, while also bring home a three-meter championship in 2016. Zillweger's 357.05 in 2016 still stands as the WAC championship meet record in the one-meter dive. Dominic Vallejo was a two-time champion in the platform dive after besting the rest of the WAC in consecutive seasons following both the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Representing the Falcons most recent conference champion in 2022, Alex Kenyon was the victor in the three-meter dive, scoring a championship meet record 378.60.
Curnow's efforts coaching the divers has helped the men's program to three WAC Championships, in 2016, 2017, and 2020, as well as runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2015.
On the women’s side, three women have earned first-team All-American honors at the Division II level under Curnow’s leadership as Sara Saxer (class of 1993), Rebecca Currie (class of 1994) and Elly Bunzendahl (class of 1998) all earned All-American honors.
Outside of the pool, Curnow has been an asset to the Academy as well, being named the 1998 athletic department Instructor of the Year.
A former member of the NCAA Diving Rules Committee, Curnow came to Air Force from BYU, where he coached for 14 years. His record there was impeccable, including 26 conference titles, 17 All-Americans and two NCAA Division I champions.
A native of Denver, Colo., Curnow was named a high school All-American in diving and was a champion performer on the trampoline. He attended BYU and graduated in 1977 with a degree in physical education. He completed his master's degree in the same field in 1978. As a competitor at BYU, Curnow was the Western Athletic Conference diving champion three out of four years and earned All-American honors in 1972 and 1974. He was also a finalist in the 1972 Olympic Trials.
