Athletics Directory
Bob Sorensen
Men’s Swimming and Diving
Head Coach
Telephone: 992-8531
Email: robert.sorensen@nyu.edu
Having completed 27 seasons on the deck, New York University men’s swimming head coach Bob Sorensen has built the Violets into a force to be reckoned with within the Division III waters. He has posted a 166-110 career record and has coached 24 NCAA qualifiers and 17 All-Americans.
Sorensen guided NYU to its finest showing ever in 2006-07: a 10-1 dual-meet record that established a team mark for victories in a season. The Violets won a third consecutive Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship, tied a program-best with a second-place finish at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships, and finished an all-time best 15th at the NCAA Championships.
Six Violets qualified for the NCAA’s and combined to set eight school records. Five of them earned All-America honors. The 400-freestyle relay team (fifth) and 800-freestyle relay team (eighth) earned All-America honors, while junior Brad Thornton (200-yard individual medley), sophomores Paul Hogan (1,650-yard freestyle) and Andrew Lardiere (100- and 200-yard freestyle), and the 200-yard freestyle relay team all garnered Honorable Mention All-America status. In addition to Hogan, Lardiere and Thornton, the trio of junior Christopher Wolff, sophomore Eric Wang and freshman Eric Pcholinski qualified for the Nationals.
NYU enjoyed similar success at the UAA Championships, setting six school records while making 11 NCAA “B” cuts. The 100-freestyle relay team (sophomore Ben Barnes, Lardiere, Pcholinski, Thornton) and the 400-freestyle relay team (Pcholinski, Thornton, Wolff, and Lardiere) each proved triumphant, while Lardiere won the 50-yard freestyle.
Overall, 11 team records were set last season, while 14 of Sorensen’s student-athletes received UAA Winter Sport All-Academic honors.
Sorensen’s teams have notched a 27-4 dual-meet record over the past three seasons, have posted six consecutive winning seasons, and have had NCAA qualifiers in 16 of the last 17 seasons, including each of the past seven campaigns.
Sorensen began his coaching career at the Boy’s Club of Queens, and two years later became coach at Mater Christi High School, his alma mater. While there, Sorensen also served as an assistant coach at the Flushing YMCA. He has also served as President and Vice President of the Metropolitan Collegiate Swimming Conference.
In addition to his coaching duties at NYU, Sorensen serves as the Natatorium Manager for the Palladium Athletic Facility. He instructs classes in swimming, lifeguard training, CPR, and First Aid.
A 1974 graduate of St. John’s University with a degree in political science, Sorensen co-captained the Red Storm’s swim team and was a Metropolitan Conference Champion in the 200-yard butterfly. He also earned a master’s degree in physical education at Teachers College of Columbia University in 1982.
A native of Astoria, NY, Sorensen and his family reside in Brooklyn.