REBELS GRAB PAIR OF WAC POSTSEASON AWARDS
Head Coach Ben Loorz named Coach of the Year, George Ratiu tabbed Swimmer of the Year
UNLV men’s swimming and diving grabbed a pair of 2023-24 postseason awards with head coach Ben Loorz being named the WAC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year and senior George Ratiu tabbed as the WAC Swimmer of the Year, the conference office announced Thursday. This is the fourth consecutive honor for Loorz, while Ratiu is the program’s first Swimmer of the Year since Dillon Virva in 2015.
In his eighth year at the helm of the Rebel program, Loorz led the Scarlet and Gray to a WAC Championship four-peat with a meet points record (907 points). UNLV ended this year’s 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 3-meter and the 1-meter diving events.
A native of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Ratiu – the conference’s Freshman of the Year in 2021 – drew league accolades for the second time in his career after winning individual titles in the 100 fly and the 100 free, while adding a silver medal in the 50 free. Additionally, he contributed to the Rebel relay teams’ title repeats in the 200 medley relay with a program record, 400 medley relay and 200 free relay, as well as their third consecutive 400 free relay gold medal.
UP NEXT: The Rebels will send divers to the NCAA Zone E Championships in Flagstaff, Arizona, from March 11-13.