TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona Swimming & Diving is traveling to Tempe for their season-opening meet against in-state rivals NAU, GCU and ASU (No. 6 Men, No. 21 Women).
The meet will take place Saturday, Oct. 12 at 12 p.m. MST in Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
This matchup is Arizona's first official meet of the 2024-25 season for both the swimming and diving sides.
This is Arizona's first season with head coach Ben Loorz at the helm. Prior to Arizona, Loorz worked for eight seasons of championship success as head coach at UNLV. While in Las Vegas, Loorz coached the Rebels to a total of five Western Athletic Conference and Mountain West conference championships while earning five runner-up finishes. Loorz was also named the WAC Swimming Coach of the Year for a fourth straight year in 2024. Before he took on this role in Nevada, Loorz spent six seasons as the head coach at Cal State East Bay where he led the Pioneers to three conference championships, three runner-up finishes and two top-25 showings at the NCAA Division II National Championships.
The Wildcats' 2024-25 coaching staff also welcomes assistant coaches Lauren Sullivan and Kevin Blum. Sullivan previously worked as an assistant coach at George Washington, where she helped lead the Revolutionaries to a pair of Atlantic 10 Conference championships on the men's and women's sides. Blum has extensive experience coaching at a collegiate level, having worked at both Boston College and, more recently, the University of Hawai'i. In his first year at Hawai'i, Blum played an instrumental role in leading the Rainbow Wahine to a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title in 2022-23. Blum also helped guide the men's and women's programs to break 15 school records from 2022-2024.
The Wildcat roster is composed of 23 first years ready to make their mark in the pool. Among the returners for Arizona are Gage DuBois, last year's Pac-12 Men's Diving Freshman of the year, Haakon Naughton and Ralph Daleiden, who represented Arizona at the NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships and Brooke Earley, who represented Arizona at the NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.
Wildcat fans can follow along with Arizona on X @Arizonaswimdive and check back here at ArizonaWildcats.com for final results and a recap of the event after the competition concludes. More coverage of Swim and Dive can also be found on our Facebook and Instagram.
