Arizona hires Ben Loorz from UNLV as new swim and dive head coach

He replaces Augie Busch, who was let go on May 3 after seven seasons at the helm of the UA men’s and women’s programs.

Reed-Francois and Loorz have a connection: UNLV. She was the Rebels Athletic Director from 2017-2021 and Loorz has been the school’s swimming coach for eight seasons.

Loorz led UNLV to four consecutive WAC men’s swimming titles with the latest coming earlier this year. It was also the fourth straight year Loorz was named WAC swimming coach of the year. The women’s team, which competes in a different league, the Mountain West, tied a school record this season with 15 all-conference members and took second place at the MW swim and dive championships in February. Loorz was also named the Mountain West’s women’s swimming coach of the year.

In all, Loorz has collected five combined WAC and MW league championships during his tenure at UNLV. He also spent six seasons at Cal State East Bay winning three conference championships and three runners-up. He also won two conference coach of the year nods at CSU East Bay.

Throughout his coaching career he has coached numerous All-Americans and Academic All-Americans.

“We sought to hire a head coach with a successful record of coaching, recruiting and holistically developing student-athletes at the highest of levels,” Reed-Francois said in a press release. “Coach Loorz is a proven leader who is nationally recognized in the swimming and diving community with a championship vision for our program.”