UNLV’S LOORZ EARNS WAC COACH OF THE YEAR
The Rebels’ postseason awards also included freshman George Ratiu’s WAC Freshman of the Year recognition
UNLV swimming and diving drew a pair of postseason awards, as head coach Ben Loorz earned 2021 WAC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year and freshman George Ratiu received WAC Freshman of the Year accolades, the conference office announced Wednesday. This is the first honor for Loorz, who becomes the second coach in program history with the award after legendary coach Jim Reitz last received it before retiring in 2015. Ratiu, meanwhile, is the first UNLV swimmer with the conference’s freshman recognition since alum Brad Gonzalez in 2018.
In his fifth year at the helm of the swimming and diving program, Loorz guided the Rebels to their first WAC Championship in six years. The award comes after UNLV broke the conference’s all-time record for points (907) at the 2021 WAC Swimming and Diving Championships held in its own Jim Reitz Pool,
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A native of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Ratiu posted three top-5 individual finishes in his debut at the WAC meet. The Rebel newcomer earned his best finish in the 50 free, where he earned the silver medal and recorded an NCAA B cut of 19.93. He also placed third in the 100 fly (47.56) and fifth in the 100 free (44.11). Additionally, Ratiu was the lead-off swimmer for UNLV’s sixth 200 free relay WAC gold medal in the past eight years.
UP NEXT: The Rebels now look ahead to being represented by their women’s team junior Montse Moreno and senior Jesse Cawley from the men’s squad at the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships in Flagstaff, Ariz., from March 8-10.