The Rebels look forward to taking on the new season under Interim Head Coach Bobby Folan. Folan previously worked as Head Assistant Coach under Jim Reitz for the past 3 seasons, including in 2014-15 where the Rebels finished with a tie in 26th at the NCAA Men’s Championships.
On the 23rd of Oct., UNLV with begin their season with a meet in Tuscon, Ariz. The opener for their season this year will be against Arizona. The Wildcat’s men’s team placed 13th in the 2015 NCAA Championships while the women’s team placed 15th. The Rebels are back on the road after that with meets in Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah on November 6 and 7. During that weekend there will be contests against BYU and Utah who were both former rivals in the Mountain West.
Perhaps one of the most anticipated meets of the regular season is the Georgia Tech Invitational on Nov. 19-21. This weekend will be a beneficial opportunity for the Rebels to get a sneak peak at the facility that will be hosting the NCAA Women’s and Men’s Championships at the end of the season. The newly renamed McAuley Aquatic Center, undergoing renovations for the national championships, was the home of the 1996 Summer Olympics swimming and diving competitions.
The home opener will also wrap up the schedule competition for the 2015 calendar year when UNLV hosts the Winter Invitational from December 12-15 at Buchanan Natatorium.
The men and women will resume their season with a quad-meet on Jan. 2 in San Diego, Calif. where they will compete against UC San Diego, San Diego State, Grand Canyon and Boise State. That will be followed by a meet at UC Santa Barbara the next weekend. UNLV then returns home for contests against Air Force on January 23 and Pacific on January 29. To wrap up their dual meet schedule the Rebels will take on Wyoming on Jan. 30, while the women’s squad will face their in-state rival Nevada, Reno.
UNLV will submerge itself into its conference championships, with the women first at the Mountain West meet Feb. 17-20 at College Station, Texas. The men’s team will then compete in the Western Athletic Conference championships on the 24-27 of February in Houston,Texas. The women’s team will finish up their season in Atlanta, Ga. at the NCAA Championship on March 16-19. The men’s team will conclude the season in Atlanta as well on the 23-26 of March.
The Rebel men return with a majority of their team that won the 2015 WAC Championship, including five men that competed at the NCAA Championships the previous year. Tom Paco-Pedroni and Or Sabatier will both be sitting out for the 2015-16 season while they are training with their respective countries for the 2016 Olympic Trials. The women meanwhile bring back a strong group that is expected to challenge for a finish in the top half of the Mountain West.
Swimming news courtesy of UNLV Swimming & Diving.