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Top Row Dawg · (This post was last modified: 07-24-2025, 01:33 AM by Top Row Dawg.)

With Love for Uncle John Always!

Woof™ For 16th Best Season in History of UGA Football #6 Final AP Poll (SEC Champs)

40 Under 40

In and out of the pool, Nic Fink has always been willing to put in the work. A two-time Olympian with one gold medal and two silvers, as well as a bachelor's degree in Engineering from the University of Georgia and a master's in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Georgia Tech, Fink has many athletic and intellectual gifts — but his work ethic may be his greatest strength. Fink was a good junior swimmer, but not one of the top recruits in the country coming out of high school. At Georgia, he was a 19-time All-American and six-time SEC champion, winning the 100-yard breaststroke all four years and the 200 as a junior and senior. He got better every year at Georgia, and then blossomed even more as a pro. Along with his three Olympic medals that he earned in Paris in 2024, Fink has 13 World Championships medals, including six golds. Along with his substantial training as an elite swimmer, Fink worked full-time with Quanta Utility Engineering Services. Juggling two very demanding jobs wasn't easy, but he's no stranger to a rigorous schedule. "I would say that I'm definitely proud of my ability to kind of balance things. I would also say it's been made easier because I've had a lot of help," said Fink, who lives in Atlanta with his wife, former Georgia swimming standout Melanie Margalis Fink, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, and their newborn son.

Dave Bliss was a hard-working center on the Georgia men's basketball team from 2004-08, as well as the 2008 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He got into coaching after he graduated, first as a volunteer assistant at Georgia and then as a graduate assistant at VCU, where he got a master's in Education. After that, Bliss moved on to the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, where he started as a video coordinator and then player development coach. Bliss kept working and developing as a coach, spending the 2015-18 season as an assistant with the New York Knicks before returning to Oklahoma City, and he was on the Thunder bench as the lead assistant and defensive coordinator in June when OKC won the NBA title.

When the UGA Alumni Association released its annual list of 40 Under 40 standouts earlier this month, Fink and Bliss made the list. Also recognized was former Georgia football student assistant and grad assistant Mike Macdonald, now the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

As a student at Georgia, Macdonald, who earned his bachelor's degree in 2010 and his master's in 2013, coached linebackers and running backs at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens from 2008-09, before working as a student assistant at Georgia in 2010. He then served as a grad assistant for the Bulldogs from 2011-13; his pro coaching career began as an intern with the Baltimore Raves in 2014. By 2017, Macdonald was the Ravens' defensive backs coach, then the linebackers coach. In 2021, he was the defensive coordinator at Michigan, before returning to the Ravens to lead their defense in 2022-23. The following year, Seattle hired him as its head coach.

Cool