Lars Jorgensen enters his first season with the University of Kentucky swimming team as the associate head coach to Gary Conelly for the 2012-2013 season. Jorgensen brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with an SEC background, and has found himself a new home at Kentucky.
Jorgensen is fresh off of a stint with the University of Tennessee swimming and diving program, where he rose to an assistant coaching role after serving as a volunteer assistant for the Vols.
"I am really excited to join the staff here at Kentucky," Jorgensen said. "I can't wait to get in there and start helping Kentucky reach the highest level. I am just so excited to be here and work with a great staff. I look forward to getting right to work and getting a jump start on the upcoming season."
The former UT product served as the interim head coach at Tennessee for the 2012 season and will be able to help assist Conelly in the day-to-day coaching duties in hopes of bringing the UK Swimming program to national prominence.
During his stint with the Volunteers, Tennessee had a top-12 finish nationally and a third place finish at the SEC Championships while posting a 6-2 (2-1 SEC) record during his first season back as an assistant. He helped coach 12 different All-America honorees in swimming and diving, and they broke three school records during his time there: the 200-yard freestyle (Ryan Harrison, 1:32.38), the 500 freestyle (Harrison, 4:15.13) and the 200 breaststroke (Brad Craig, 1:54.24).
"We are extremely excited to welcome Lars to our staff here at Kentucky," UK head coach Gary Conelly said. "His experience and background will help to move UK swimming and diving up the ladder in the SEC and NCAA. He is a great all-around coach and will be great at recruiting, motivating and day-to-day coaching."
Before his time at his alma-mater, Jorgensen served as head coach of the Toledo Rockets swimming and diving programs beginning in 2003 and spanning to the 2010 season. In his time at Toledo, Jorgensen led the Rockets to new heights, capturing the program's first-ever Mid-American Conference Championship in 2009-10 and finishing 35th nationally at the NCAA Championships. The Rockets were also fantastic out of the water for Jorgensen, tallying a 3.4 GPA in the classroom, which ranked 17th among NCAA Division I schools that season.
Jorgensen also spent four seasons previous to his time at Toledo with LSU as an assistant coach, and one additional season as the Tigers' associate head coach, the role he now serves at UK.
As a student-athlete, Jorgensen was a standout swimmer for UT and the United States, representing the USA in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, finishing ninth. Jorgensen also holds the current UT record in the 1000-free, tapping in at 9:05.38 in 1992. In addition, Jorgensen holds the Ironman record for fastest swimming time in competition history.
For continuing coverage of UK swimming and diving and the 2012-13 season, log on to UKAthletics.com.
