OUAZ Athletics

Darian Townsend was named as the new head coach of the OUAZ men's and women's swimming & diving programs on September 1, 2020. Townsend was chosen to guide the Spirit into its first seasons of competition after working as an assistant during the building of the program and its inaugural year.
 
Townsend brings high-level experience as both a coach and a competitor to his new position. The Olympic gold-medalist also competed at some of the top NCAA Division I programs in the country.
 
Townsend began his swimming career at the University of Florida from 2004-06. He then transferred the University of Arizona from 2006-08. Townsend has eight years of coaching experience at the club level, including the past three seasons as the head coach for the YMCA Westside Silver Fins.
 
A decorated swimmer, Townsend represented South Africa in three Olympics, and he won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in the 4x100 freestyle relay. After becoming a US citizen in 2014, Townsend won five medals, including two golds in relays, at the 2014 Short-Course World Championships before earning a silver and bronze in relays at the 2015 Pan American Games while competing for the USA.
 
Townsend held the short course world record in the Men's 200-meter Individual Medley from November 15, 2009 through December 17, 2010. He also was a member of the South Africa relay team that held the record in the 4x100 Freestyle Relay in 2004-2006.
 
Townsend swam collegiately at both the University of Florida and the University of Arizona. He still ranks in the Arizona top-10 in four different events, including as a member of the relay team that holds the school record in the 4x100 Freestyle Relay.
 
A 2010 graduate from the University of Arizona with a bachelors in Sociology, Townsend and his wife, Claire, are the parents of one daughter, Ella.