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Get to Know New Scarlet Hawks: Robert Rariden

Get to Know New Scarlet Hawks: Robert Rariden
Posted: Aug 28, 2020

CHICAGO—First-year Illinois Institute of Technology head swimming & diving coach Robert Rariden has a background in the pool that began at age six, but it wasn't his only passion. Specialization in swimming & diving has experienced an upward trend thanks to year-round clubs and demanding training philosophies. 

"I was a big baseball guy, and played from t-ball through high school," said Rariden. "A big part of growing up was participating in multiple sports. Those collective experiences led me to the way I coach swimming now."

Rariden was a three-sport athlete at Grand Blanc High School (Mich.); where he competed in water polo, swimming & diving and baseball. Despite being a standout in all three sports, Rariden elected to shift gears solely to academics and attend Michigan State University. His lack of knowledge beyond the scholarship levels was a driving force behind the decision to forgo collegiate competition. 

"My mindset was that if I wasn't offered a scholarship, I wasn't good enough to compete in college," said Rariden. "Now that I am a coach at the collegiate level, I can tell you that there's a swim team out there at the Division III level that's willing to accept a quality athlete. Had I known that at the time, I think Division III would've been attractive to me."

Rariden dove into the high school coaching ranks while he attended Michigan State '17. His first taste of coaching occurred at Powers Catholic High School (Mich.), where he enlisted his services as head girl's swimming & diving coach. Skepticism plays a large role in our confidence levels when attempting something for the first time, and Rariden was no exception.

"I remember sitting down in front of the athletic director at Powers Catholic and telling him that I've never coached a program before in my life," said Rariden. "I knew everything about the sport, I just never been a coach. He had no reason to hire me, but knew I'd give it my all if given the opportunity."

After 10 individual and three relay qualifiers at the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Girl's Swimming & Diving Meet throughout two seasons at Powers Catholic, Rariden eyed his next challenge at Albion College. He spent two seasons at Albion as an assistant men's and women's swimming & diving coach before landing at Illinois Tech.

"I told myself that it'd be the ultimate goal to do this (coaching) for a living, and that's what pushed me to make the jump to the collegiate level," said Rariden. "Ever since my next step after the high school level as an assistant coach at Albion College (NCAA Division III), there was no turning back."