University of Minnesota Athletics
P.J. Bogart - M Club Hall of Fame
P.J. Bogart
Men’s Swimming & Diving, 1993-96
HOF Class of 2007
P.J. Bogart, probably Minnesota’s best-ever diver, is certainly one of its most decorated athletes. The Arizona native was a four-time Big Ten Diver of the Year, a four-time All-American, and one of two Gopher divers to win an NCAA Championship – and he won three of them!
Bogart opened his Gopher career in 1993 winning Big Ten and NCAA platform diving titles, the national win Minnesota’s first in 20 years. As a sophomore, he captured Big Ten titles in the 1-meter and platform events. At the 1994 NCAA Championships he became the school’s first All-American in all three diving events.
Bogart repeated that feat in 1995, winning the NCAA 1-meter championship and finishing second in the 3-meter and fourth in platform. He had already become the first Minnesota diver to win Big Ten titles in all three events, and after the season was named Big Ten Men’s Athlete of the Year.
In 1996, he again earned All-Big Ten honors, and captured the 1- and 3-meter crowns to lead Minnesota to its first Big Ten Championship since 1926. At the NCAA Championships a month later, Bogart won his third national title, in the 1-meter event. For the third time, he nabbed All-America honors in all three diving events.
As a senior, Bogart won Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. He ranked first all-time with eight individual Big Ten titles, plus a raft of other honors and school records. Narrowly missing a spot on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, he became a performer in the Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas.