Beginning his 25th year of college coaching, Eric Rasmussen returns for his fourth campaign as head coach at NJIT.
Rasmussen’s 15 years experience coaching at the NCAA Division I level will be invaluable as he leads the Highlanders in their reclassification to Division I.
Rasmussen’s Division I experience includes work with some of the top college and international-level coaches in the country. As a graduate assistant at the University of Texas, he worked directly under eight-time NCAA Coach of the Year Eddie Reese, who recently led the US Men’s Swimming team at the Beijing Olympics. A member of every US Men’s Olympic coaching staff since 1988, Coach Reese has led the Longhorns to nine NCAA crowns, including two when Rasmussen was his assistant.
Rasmussen also worked as the head counselor/coach for the Longhorn Swimming Camp for many summers, guiding some of the most promising age-group swimmers in the nation. In that role, he worked under two more Olympic head coaches; Mark Schubert and Richard Quick. After an outstanding college coaching career, Schubert was named USA National Team Coach/General Manager in March of 2006. At the 2008 Olympics, Schubert directed Team USA to one of their most successful games; he will continue to direct the team through the 2012 Games. Quick, also a six-time U.S. Olympic coach, recently returned to Auburn after more 20 years at Stanford and Texas.
“Having the opportunity to work for and, more importantly, learn from these outstanding coaches has been a major influence on my coaching technique,” says Rasmussen. “Observing their styles, all different but all incredibly successful, provided me a lifetime worth of knowledge about swimming and about people. To have had the opportunity to be mentored by these men early in my career is priceless.”
Returning to his native New Jersey from Texas, Rasmussen served eight years as a head coach at Division I Saint Peter’s College in Jersey City, leading the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams. During his eight-year run, he orchestrated a mass overhaul of the school’s records, with many of the records being broken numerous times. Upon his departure, only two school records predated Rasmussen’s tenure as head coach.
Immediately prior to his taking over at NJIT, Rasmussen was an assistant at Division I Loyola (MD) College. During his three-year stay in Baltimore, the Greyhounds experienced a great deal of success and Rasmussen was instrumental in recruiting of some top swimmers, including a high school state champion and a USA Swimming senior national qualifier. In 2004 and 2005, he helped guide a swimmer to consecutive conference MVP titles. The culmination of his efforts came at the 2005 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship meet where Loyola swimmers recorded over 50 personal best swims, breaking 19 school records and three conference records.
Rasmussen began coaching at Ocean County College (NJ). During his six years at OCC, Rasmussen led over 40 athletes to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) championships where they collected nine All - American certificates. Additionally, Rasmussen has coached at three NCAA YES clinics, worked as an assistant to the meet directors at the 1988 Olympic Swimming Trials, and served as the assistant ticket manager at the 2004 Women’s NCAA Division I championships. He recently completed a six-summer run as a guest coach at the Lehigh University Swimming Camp and was a guest coach at the prestigious Navy Swimming Camp in 2007 and 2008.
A 1983 Phi Kappa Phi graduate of Ithaca College with a bachelor of science in Physical Education, Rasmussen also attended graduate school at the University of Texas. Born in nearby Irvington, NJ, Rasmussen resides in Toms River, NJ.
