C. Rob Orr
Charles Robison "Rob" Orr (born September 1950) is the current men's swim coach at Princeton University. Before arriving at Princeton, Orr was an assistant coach for USC for three years. During his tenure at Princeton, he was the head coach at the 1991 Olympic Festival and in 1993 was the head women's coach for the U.S. national junior team.[1]
Swimming career
Orr graduated from San Gabriel High School in California in 1968. As a senior in high school, Orr earned All-America status in the 100 yard butterfly. Orr's time of 52.9 seconds placed him sixth in the nation, five spots behind Mark Spitz.[2] After graduation, Orr went on to have a successful career at the University of Southern California which included selection to the 1971 Pan American Games swim team representing the United States in Cali, Colombia; Orr was the silver medalist in the 200 meter butterfly in Cali. As a senior at USC, Orr was voted Team Captain by his teammates and earned All-America status in the 200 yard butterfly, placing fifth in the nation. Once again, Orr placed behind Mark Spitz who won the event at NCAA Championships.[3] Orr also competed in the 1972 Olympic Trials where he placed 15th in prelims.[4]
Coaching career at Princeton
Orr was named the head men's swim coach at Princeton University for the 1979-1980 and is currently in his 31st year at the school. His teams have won 19 EISL/Ivy League championships, most recently in 2012. His career record in dual meets, 287-41, includes a 115-2 record at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool (the first loss came after a 107 meet winning streak in DeNunzio Pool). Orr has been the EISL or Ivy League coach of the year six times and coached the Tigers to five top 20 finishes at NCAA Championships. In 1989 and 1990, Princeton's 200 medley relay team won the event at NCAA's in American record time.[5] Orr has been described as "part nutty professor [and] part genius"[6] and is also "one of the most beloved."[7]
Personal life
Orr currently resides in Pennington, New Jersey with his wife Benji with whom he has two sons, Braden and Scotty.
