Doug Heighton

Doug Heighton enters his first season as an assistant coach with the Quincy University men's and women's swimming programs in 2026-27.

Heighton comes to Quincy after spending two seasons on the coaching staff at Truman State University from 2024-26. He served as an assistant coach during the 2024-25 season before stepping into the role of interim head coach for the 2025-26 campaign.

During his time at Truman State, Heighton helped develop several nationally competitive swimmers. In 2024-25, he assisted in coaching a women's swimmer to a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle at the NCAA Division II Championships, along with a top-10 finish in the 100-yard freestyle and a top-25 finish in the 50-yard freestyle. He also helped another swimmer earn Second Team All-America honors with a top-15 finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Heighton additionally coached a GLVC Athlete of the Week during the season.

As interim head coach in 2025-26, Heighton continued to guide the Bulldogs at the conference level, helping the women's program earn three eighth-place finishes at the GLVC Championships.

Prior to Truman State, Heighton spent the 2023-24 season as a volunteer assistant coach at Kenyon College. During his time with the Owls, he helped the women's program capture the NCAA Division III National Championship while the men's team finished as national runners-up.

Heighton has also gained extensive experience working with swimmers through camps and clinics across the country. During the summer of 2025, he served as a camp counselor and instructor at programs hosted by Ohio State University, Texas A&M University, the University of Missouri, the United States Air Force Academy, Indiana University, the University of Virginia and the University of Texas.

A native of Westerville, Ohio, Heighton competed as a distance swimmer at Wittenberg University from 2019-23. He graduated in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in history.