Courtesy: ACC
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Virginia’s Kate Douglass and Louisville’s Nicolas Albiero were named the 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference Swimmers of the Year and highlight the ACC’s yearly award winners for the 2021-22 Swimming and Diving season.
The honors were determined by a vote of the league’s head coaches.
Douglass was voted the ACC Women’s Swimmer of the Year, while Albiero was selected as the Men’s Swimmer of the Year for the second straight season. Miami’s Mia Vallée was named the ACC Women’s Diver of the Year. North Carolina’s Anton Down-Jenkins was voted Men’s Diver of the Year for the second straight season.
Virginia’s Gretchen Walsh was selected as the ACC Women’s Freshman of the Year, while Aiden Hayes of NC State was named the Men’s Freshman of the Year.
Virginia head coach Todd DeSorbo was voted ACC Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season. NC State head coach Braden Holloway was selected ACC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year.
Miami’s Randy Ableman was named the ACC Men’s and Women’s Diving Coach of the Year, becoming the first coach to sweep the diving coach honors twice in a career. Ableman also won both awards in 2019.
With three individual NCAA titles and four relay wins, Douglass was named the 2022 CSCAA Women’s Swimmer of the Meet. The Pelham, New York, native set American records in each of her individual wins. Douglass won the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard backstroke, scoring three wins in three different strokes and three different distances. She also swam on the NCAA Champion 200 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay, 400 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay.
Albiero notched seven All-America honors this season. The senior from Louisville, Kentucky, finished third in the 200 backstroke, sixth in the 100 butterfly and sixth in the 100 backstroke. He also was part of four All-America relays (200 medley, 400 medley, 800 freestyle and 400 freestyle). At the ACC Championships, he won the 200 butterfly for an ACC-record fifth straight year. He also won silver medals at part of the 800 freestyle and 400 medley relays. He won bronze in the 100 butterfly and as part of the 200 freestyle relay.
Vallée won the NCAA championship in the 1-meter springboard with an NCAA Championships record score of 365.756. She also tied for fourth place in the 3-meter event and earned CSCAA First-Team All-America honors in both competitions. The native of Montreal, Quebec, won two medals at the ACC Championships, taking the gold in the 3-meter and silver in the 1-meter.
Down-Jenkins was a CSCAA First-Team All-American in both of the springboard events. The senior from Wellington, New Zealand, placed sixth in the 3-meter event and eighth in the 1-meter at the NCAA Championships. At the ACC Championships, he won the 1-meter championship and was the runner-up in the 3-meter event.
A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Walsh won the NCAA championship in the 100 freestyle, setting a school record in the process. She also finished as an All-American in the 100 Backstroke and 50 Freestyle and was part of UVa’s four relay championships.
Hayes earned three All-America honors this season. He placed seventh in the 100 butterfly and was part of the fourth-place 200 freestyle relay team, earning first-team honors in both. Hayes also took 14th in the 200 butterfly to earn honorable-mention All-America honors. He won the bronze medal in the 200 butterfly at the ACC Championships.
The CSCAA Women’s Team Coach of the Year for the second straight season, DeSorbo led the Virginia women to their second straight NCAA Championship. He also was named the College Coach of the Year by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee on Wednesday. Virginia won seven national titles in individual and four relay events at the NCAA Championships, the most ever by an ACC team. The Cavaliers won their fourth women’s ACC Championship in five years, and league-record 18th overall.
Holloway won ACC Men’s Coach of the Year honors for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons. He guided NC State men to their seventh ACC championship in the last eight seasons and led the Wolfpack to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, matching a program best.
Ableman earned ACC Men’s Diving Coach of the Year honors for the fifth time and women’s laurels for the fourth time. Miami divers earned five All-Americans with three on the women’s side and two on the men’s side. Miami also claimed three titles at the ACC Championships, as Zach Cooper notched the men’s platform crown, Max Flory won the men’s 3-meter and Vallée claimed the women’s 3-meter.
2021-22 ACC Swimming & Diving Annual 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
