Swimmers Kate Douglass (Virginia), Gretchen Walsh (Virginia), Maggie MacNeil (LSU), and diver Aranza Vazquez (North Carolina) have been nominated for the 2023 Honda Sport Award for Swimming & Diving by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards.
Douglass was the sport award winner for swimming & diving last year.
The finalists were selected by “a panel of experts and coaches” from the CSCAA, with each of the over 1,000 NCAA member schools receiving one vote to select the winner.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 37 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports. The winner becomes a finalist for the Honda Cup, which will be presented during the live telecast of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards in downtown L.A., on Monday, June 26, at 9 pm ET/6 PT on CBS Sports Network.
Swimmers have won the Honda Cup on 9 occasions in 47 years, which is second-most to only basketballa:
- 2018 – Simone Manuel, Stanford
- 2017 – Katie Ledecky, Stanford
- 2015 – Missy Franklin, Cal
- 2004 – Tara Kirk, Stanford
- 2000 – Cristina Teuscher, Columbia
- 1987 – Mary T. Meagher, Cal
- 1984 – Tracy Caulkins, Florida (Tie)
- 1982 – Tracy Caulkins, Florida
- 1981 – Jill Sterkel, Texas
South Carolina basketball player Aliyah Boston won last year, and is competing again this year as a senior. While South Carolina is still in the chase for an NCAA title, Boston’s stats are down a bit this year.
See all of the past women’s award winners here.
Athlete Biographies courtesy: CWSA
Douglass, a senior from Pelham, N.Y., earned the Honda Award for Swimming & Diving for the Class of 2022 and is a two-time Honda Award finalist. Most recently, she was named the CSCAA Swimmer of the Year, for the second year in a row, and was twice named the ACC Swimmer of the Year. She was the back-to-back winner of three individual NCAA Championships (200 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 breast) and helped UVA to its third straight NCAA title. All three of those wins were new NCAA Records.
Walsh, also a part of the Virginia National Championship team, captured two individual championships (100 back, 100 free) and four relay championships en route to the title. She is an 11-time NCAA Champion overall and a 14-time CSCAA All-American. The sophomore from Nashville, Tenn., has won eight ACC conference titles and is a 14-time All-ACC honoree.
MacNeil, a graduate student from London, Ontario, Canada, is a three-time Honda Award finalist having also earned the honor in 2020 and 2021 with the University of Michigan. She was the individual champion in the 50 free at the NCAA Championship and earned LSU its first women’s swimming national title in school history. She is a 25-time CSCAA All-American and a 14-time conference champion (SEC, Big Ten).
Vazquez Montano is the 2023 CSCAA Diver of the Year after capturing the national title in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives at the 2023 NCAA Championship. She is the first UNC athlete to win an individual diving championship. She swept the dives at the ACC Championship taking first in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform to earn ACC Championship Most Outstanding Diver honors.
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