Ben Loorz took the helm of the UNLV swimming and diving program in 2016, and his tenure as head coach has seen both the Rebel men and women rise to the top of their conferences. In his six seasons, Loorz has been named WAC Coach of the Year twice (2020-21, 2021-22) and Mountain West Coach of the Year (2021).
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In his eighth year at the helm, Loorz led the Scarlet and Gray to a WAC Championship four-peat with a meet points record (907 points). UNLV ended the 2024 conference meet with 27 medals, including a sweep of the league's five relay golds, eight individual event golds, nine individual event silvers and five individual bronzes. Additionally, Loorz's squad added school records in the 200 medley relay, to go along with program bests in the 200 breast, the 3-meter and the 1-meter diving events.
The Rebel men garnered national acclaim under Loorz’s guidance in 2021-22 on the way to winning their second straight WAC Championship. UNLV found itself ranked among the CSCAA National Top-25 Polls on the men’s side for a majority of the season, reaching as high as No. 23.
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During the 2020-21 season, Loorz led UNLV to his first Mountain West and WAC team titles as head coach. The team wins marked the women’s first conference championship since 2005 and the men’s first league trophy since 2015 with the highest-ever point tally at the WAC Championships. Additionally, the Rebels were represented at the Tokyo Olympic Games, and at both Wave I and Wave II of the U.S. Olympic Trials.
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Loorz’s squads continue to set high performance standards with regards to NCAA qualifiers and academic success. UNLV has qualified individuals for the NCAA Championships every year since 2017, and in the 2021-22 season had 23 student-athletes earn 44 NCAA provisional standards. Along with the competitive success, 21 Rebels have achieved individual CSCAA Scholar All-America status since Loorz’s arrival.
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Another major mark of excellence includes the steady rise of former UNLV volunteer assistant, Kasia Wasick. The past four years have seen Wasick – who trains with Loorz and Associate Head Coach Pat Ota – emerge as a dominant sprint force on the world stage. She earned a fifth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics, and finished 2021 as the No. 2 female sprinter in the world.
Prior to taking over the Rebels in 2016, Loorz’s first season as a collegiate head coach was at Cal State East Bay in the San Francisco Bay Area. In his six years as the head coach at CSU East Bay, Loorz led the Pioneers to three Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference (PCSC)      championship runner-up finishes (2012-13, 2013-14, 2015-16) as well as a 15th-place finish in the 2013-14 NCAA Division II Championships. His squad also tied for 21st at the 2012-13 national championship meet. Under Loorz, the Pioneers produced six All-Americans and he was named the PCSC Coach of the Year twice (2012-13, 2013-14) and Coach of the Championship Meet twice (2013-14, 2014-15).
During Loorz's first stint with the Rebels (2007-2010), he was part of three conference championships by the men's programs, as he served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. The UNLV women also placed second in the Mountain West in 2008-09 during his tenure as assistant coach.
Prior to his first time at UNLV, Loorz spent two years as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Utah (2005-07), where he helped coach the women's squad to the MW championship meet title in 2006, and a regular-season crown in 2007. Loorz was a volunteer assistant for the women's team at California for the 2004-05 season.
Loorz swam collegiately at American River College in Sacramento after graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor of music from University of Southern California in 1999. He also earned a Master of Science in Communication from Utah in 2008.
Loorz and his wife, Jennifer, who is a teacher at Pinecrest Academy in Las Vegas, have four sons.
UNLV Coaching Highlights
- 2024 WAC Coach of the Year
- 2023 WAC Coach of the Year
- 2022 WAC Coach of the Year
- 2021 Mountain West Coach of the Year
- 2021 WAC Coach of the Year
- 2024 WAC Championship Team Points Record
- 2021 WAC Championship Team Points Record
- 2024 WAC Champion
- 2023 WAC Champion
- 2022 WAC Champion
- 2021 WAC Champion
- 2021 Mountain West Champion
- 2024 Mountain West runner-up
- 2023 Mountain West runner-up
- 2020 WAC runner-up
- 2019 WAC runner-up
- 2018 WAC runner-up
- 2021-22 CSCAA National Top-25 Ranking – Men’s Swimming
- CSCAA D1 Top-25 Poll Committee – Women’s Swimming
- 35 school records – Individual/Relay
- 56 WAC Championships – Individual/Relay
- 17 Mountain West Championships – Individual/Relay
- 26 Academic All-Americans
- 1 All-American
- 1 WAC Swimmer of the Year
- 2 WAC Freshman of the Year Awards
- 2021 Bill Ireland Award Winner - Kristina Schneider, Women's Swimming
- 2022 Medhi Bouras Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year - Vuk Celic, Men's Swimming
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