David Burke - Assistant Coach - Staff Directory - Princeton University Athletics

Staff Directory

David Burke

Title:
Assistant Coach
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David Burke was promoted to Associate Head Coach in December 2025 after starting as an Assistant Coach in 2022.

In 2023, just his second season, he was part of a staff that led the Tigers to the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship along with the IRQA President’s Cup, an Ivy League Championship and a championship at Eastern Sprints. The Tigers’ 1V and 2V were victorious in their Grand Finals at IRAs and Eastern Sprints, as Princeton finished with season with an 11-1 overall record and a 5-1 record in Ivy competition.

Princeton finished fourth at IRAs in 2025, with the 1V and 2V both making it to Grand Finals. At Eastern Sprints, Burke helped lead the Tigers to a second-place finish with the 3V winning silver and the 1V bronze. Princeton retained the Murtaugh Cup over Navy, the Wood-Hammond Cup, the Campbell Cup over Columbia and the Diamond Challenge Trophy over Dartmouth.

2024 was another strong season for the Tigers with Burke on stff. Princeton finished third at IRAs, with the 1V winning silver. At Eastern Sprints, Princeton's 1V and 2V won bronze as the Tigers finished fourth in the team standings.

The Tigers had four All-Americans in 2022, Burke’s first season, as they retained the Fosburgh Cup at Georgetown and the Campbell Cup at Columbia along with victories over Mercyhurst.

Burke came to Princeton from Old Dominion where he was the assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for the women's rowing program since 2019.

Prior to Old Dominion, Burke spent six seasons at Cornell where he also had the same title for the men's squad. While there, the assistant helped the second varsity to eighth place at the 2016 IRA National Championships. The 2015 and 2016 Eastern Sprints produced consecutive bronze medals for Cornell while Burke also coached two more top-five finishes at Easterns. Some other highlights at Cornell including coaching nine participants at the U-23 World Rowing Championships and one individual who was named to the 2020 U.S. national squad.

His previous stop before Cornell featured five years at Northeastern. In 2012, he was a part of the staff that led the team to a silver medal at Eastern Sprints and a bronze at IRAs. Burke recruited and coached five rowers that competed at the World Rowing Championships.

Other coaching stops include St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute and the West Side Rowing Club. Burke attended Northeastern where he majored in history and minored in secondary education. As a member of the rowing team, he earned the Charlie Smith and Jack Grinold Boathouse Awards while helping the 2V to fourth place at Eastern Sprints, sixth place at IRAs and second at the Head of the Charles.