Kate Douglass, Nick Albiero Earn ACC Swimmer of the Year Awards
Kate Douglass and Nick Albiero earned the ACC Swimmer of the Year Awards on Friday, Albiero winning the award for the second consecutive season.
Albiero and men’s Diver of the Year Anton Down-Jenkins both are repeat winners. Douglass is joined by Women’s Diver of the Year Mia Vallee of Miami. UVA added the top freshman honor on the women’s side courtesy of Gretchen Walsh. NC State’s Aiden Hayes is the men’s freshman of the year.
On the coaching side, Todd DeSorbo added another honor this week as the Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year, joined by men’s counterpart Braden Holloway of NC State. Randy Ableman of Miami swept the Men’s and Women’s Diving Coach of the Year Awards.
ACC Swimmer of the Year Awards
- Women’s Swimmer of the Year: Kate Douglass, Virginia
- Men’s Swimmer of the Year: Nicolas Albiero, Louisville
- Women’s Diver of the Year: Mia Vallée, Miami
- Men’s Diver of the Year: Anton Down-Jenkins, North Carolina
- Women’s Freshman of the Year: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
- Men’s Freshman of the Year: Aiden Hayes, NC State
- Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year: Todd DeSorbo, Virginia
- Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year: Braden Holloway, NC State
- Men’s and Women’s Diving Coach of the Year: Randy Ableman, Miami
Douglass reached new heights in her junior season as the Swimmer of the Meet at the NCAA Championships. She won three NCAA titles – the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 breaststroke – and helped UVA to four relay titles. The Cavaliers won the NCAA championship.
Mia Vallee; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Albiero repeats as the honor in his senior season at Louisville. A seven-time All-American, he finished third in the 200 backstroke and sixth in both the 100 fly and 100 back at NCAAs. All four Cardinals relays he was a part o earned All-American status. Albiero won the 200 fly at ACCs for a fifth consecutive season.
Vallee was the NCAA gold medalist in the 1-meter springboard with a score of 365.76, which set the NCAA Championships record. The ACC champ in 3-meter finished fourth in that event at NCAA. A native of Montreal, Vallee also won a silver medal in the 1-meter at ACCs.
Down-Jenkins capped a stellar career at the University of North Carolina. The native of New Zealand placed sixth on 3-meter at NCAAs and eighth on 1-meter. He won the latter title at ACCs and was the 3-meter runner-up.
Walsh won the NCAA title in the 100 free in her first championships in a school record 46.05. The Nashville, Tenn., native helped the Cavaliers win four relays and earned All-American recognition in both the 50 free and 100 back.
Hayes finished seventh in the 100 fly and 14th in the 200 fly in his first NCAAs. He also helped NC State finish fourth in the 200 free relay.
DeSorbo repeated as the CSCAA Women’s Team Coach of the Year, helping UVA to its second straight national championship. He led the Cavaliers to a fourth ACC title in five years and their 18th overall, the most in conference history.
Holloway is the men’s coach of the year for the eighth time in 10 seasons. NC State won the men’s ACC title for the seventh time in eight seasons, then matched a program-best fourth-place result at NCAAs.
Ableman is up to nine Diving Coach of the Year accolades, five men’s and four women’s. He swept the awards for a second time, the other in 2019. He coached three women’s All-Americans, led by Vallee, and two men. In addition to Vallee’s 3-meter crown, Zach Cooper won the ACC title in platform and Max Flory won the 3-meter.
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