Sorenson Announces Retirement After 27 Seasons At Iowa State

AMES, Iowa – After leading the Iowa State women's swimming and diving team for the last 27 years, Duane Sorenson, the program's winningest coach and the second-longest tenured head coach ever in an ISU women's sport, has announced his retirement as the Cyclones' head coach. The dean of Big 12 women's swimming and diving coaches, Sorenson has led Iowa State to 141 of its 240 all-time dual meet victories and is the only coach in program history to top the century mark in dual meet wins.

"Duane has poured his heart and soul into the swimming and diving program, always leading with purpose toward developing young women into the best people they can be," said ISU Senior Associate Athletics Director Dr. Calli Sanders. "He has been a great teacher of the sport, but more importantly, has steadfastly supported his student-athletes in their academic and career pursuits.

"I admire the connection that Duane has with his athletes long after their graduation from Iowa State, demonstrating the value he has placed on the relationship aspect of our profession," she added. "I will miss him dearly as the leader of our program, a trusted colleague and friend, and wish him good health and happiness in his well-earned retirement."

Only Bill Fennelly, who is in his 29^th season leading the Cyclone women's basketball team, has guided an ISU women's program longer than Sorenson, whose head coaching tenure ranks as the school's seventh-longest behind Jack McGuire (men's swimming, 1942-75), L.C. "Cap" Timm (baseball, 1938-42, 1947-74), Harold Nichols (wrestling, 1954-85), Dale Anderson (men's golf, 1968-97), Fennelly (women's basketball, 1996-present) and Hugo Otopalik (wrestling, 1924-43, 1946-53).

Sorenson concludes his Cardinal and Gold career with a 141-114-2 (.553) dual-meet record, posting six or more dual victories 11 times, with five top three finishes at the Big 12 Championships, including four-straight from 2014-17. Ten Cyclones competed in 30 different individual events at the NCAA Championships on Sorenson's watch.

"I've had the pleasure to work with so many outstanding, motivated, bright, determined, and competitive young women over these many years and my goal for each Iowa State athlete I coached was as they looked back on their Cyclone career, they were thankful and would readily say, 'those were the best four years of my life,'" Sorenson said. "Each athlete on every one of the 27 teams that I've had the pleasure to lead will always have a special place in my heart.

"I would like to thank Jamie Pollard and Calli Sanders for their leadership, guidance, support, and friendship throughout all the years that we have worked together," he added. "I am also grateful for the 'team behind the team,' the incredible Athletics Department support staff both past and present. They are a driving force in the year-after-year success of all our ISU athletes. It has been an honor and a privilege to work with them and call them my friends."

Over his tenure on the Cyclone pool deck, Sorenson earned a respected reputation for developing talent and getting the best out of his athletes, both in and out of the water. He led his team to new heights seemingly every year, as all current ISU school records fell a combined 122 times and his student-athletes earned All-Big 12 honors 237 times.

The Big 12 Conference twice honored Sorenson for his accomplishments, as he was named the Co-Swim Coach of the 2001 league championship meet and was the Swim Coach of the 2015 meet after leading the Cyclones to a runner-up finish with a program-record 618.5 points. He also guided Iowa State to a runner-up finish at the 2023 Big 12 Championships to match the program's highest finish at a conference championship (second, five times) since it won ISU's lone league title in 1973-74.

Under Sorenson, Iowa State became one of the Big 12's top breaststroke programs, producing 54 all-conference honors among 14 swimmers. All Top 20 swimmers in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke have come on Sorenson's watch.

After winning a school-record-tying eight dual meet victories in 2021-22, the 2022-23 Cyclones posted a 6-3 dual meet record highlighted by wins in Iowa City over the Hawkeyes to secure the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk all-sports series for Iowa State and in Fort Worth for a Big 12 victory over TCU. ISU also won the Kansas Classic and produced a program-record 21 All-Big 12 honorees en route to a runner-up finish at the Big 12 Championship. The Cyclones went 3-6 in dual meets during the 2023-24 season and placed fifth at the Big 12 Championship.

"From the first day walking onto the pool deck 47 years ago this spring as the right out of college brand new head coach of my hometown swim club, to finishing up this spring season of college training, my entire time on the deck has been more of an avocation than a 'job'," Sorenson said. "I have always looked at my role as that of a leader and a teacher. I've always embraced the leadership challenges of finding a way to win a dual meet, assisting our team to achieve our best at conference, building a positive culture with a group of women from all over the world to become a unified team that cares about each other and are willing to push themselves beyond their limits to help the team be successful."

The Cyclones' double-dual meet against South Dakota and TCU on November 6, 2015, was a historic one for Sorenson, as Iowa State's pair of victories that night brought him to the century mark. Sorenson became the first coach in program history to reach 100 dual meet wins with a 171-129 victory over South Dakota and a 169-130 triumph against TCU. He is one of 17 ISU head coaches to win at least 100 contests with the Cyclones.

The 2009-10 season was historic for the Cyclones, too, as they won eight dual meets for the first time in school history. Iowa State collected victories against Iowa, Illinois State, Evansville, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Green Bay and Omaha. At the Big 12 Championships, the Cyclones broke 10 school records across the four-day event, as 2010 NCAA Championships qualifiers Nan Liu and Tien Tran combined for three All-Big 12 performances.

Sorenson's teams also enjoyed great success in the classroom, as Iowa State's grade-point average consistently ranked among the nation's best. Iowa State most recently placed a program-high 23 student-athletes on the Academic All-Big 12 first team. As a team, Iowa State earned CSCAA Scholastic All-America team honors every semester since 1990.

"I'd also like to thank my longtime assistant coaches, Jeff Warrick and Kelly Nordell, for their dedication, loyalty and most importantly their friendship, along with all of the current and former swimming and diving team support members for their commitment and many contributions to the program," Sorenson said. "Finally, my biggest thank you goes to Iowa State's last men's head swimming and diving coach, Trip Hedrick and his wife L'Louise, for encouraging me to apply for this position 27 years ago and their unconditional support over these many years."

Before coming to Iowa State, Sorenson was head coach of the South East Metro Sharks (SEMS) Swim Club. As coach of the Sharks, he received the Minnesota Chapter of the American Swimming Coaches Association's Coach of the Year award five times. In his 20 years with the club, Sorenson led the team to five championships and 11 runner-up finishes at state competition. More notably, he tutored 67 junior national qualifiers and 25 senior national qualifiers throughout his tenure at SEMS. From 1987-97, more than 120 of Sorenson's swimmers graduated to the collegiate level.

Sorenson also served as the head women's swimming coach at several high schools in Minnesota after starting his career as an assistant men's coach at his alma mater, Bemidji State, where he helped the Beavers to a fourth-place NAIA national finish. As a student-athlete at Bemidji State from 1973-77, Sorenson earned NAIA All-America honors and co-captained the team his final two seasons. In 1976, he swam to a Northern Intercollegiate Conference championship in the 200 breaststroke.

A national search for Sorenson's successor will begin immediately, Sanders said.

Iowa State University Athletics

Sorenson Announces Retirement After 27 Seasons At Iowa State

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